Impeachment Explained: Presidential Impeachment in the US

Presidential impeachment is a mechanism designated by the US Constitution that allows the House of Representatives to charge the president with "high crimes and misdemeanors." Impeachment in the House triggers a mandatory trial in the United States Senate, during which Senators serve as jurors and must decide whether the president is fit to remain in office. Impeachment begins when House leadership—typically the House Judiciary Committee—presents articles of impeachment for a full House vote. The House of Representatives can then impeach a president with a simple majority vote. If the House impeaches the president, the Senate will hold a trial with the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court presiding. A Senate impeachment trial requires a two-thirds majority vote to remove a president from office. The president is not the only federal official subject to the impeachment process. Congress can impeach and remove the vice president, executive branch members, and federal judges. The members of Congress themselves cannot be impeached; however, members of their respective chambers can eject them. Both Article I and Article II of the US Constitution describe the impeachment process in the US federal government. - __Article I__: The Constitution's framers make clear that courts and law enforcement officers do not decide what constitutes impeachable behavior. This falls to the discretion of Congress. Article I states: "The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment," and "The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments." - __Article II__: Article II of the Constitution states: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." It does not further elaborate on impeachable offenses, but over the course of American history, Congress has interpreted these to include perjury, obstruction of justice, obstruction of Congress, abuse of power, and inciting a mob. Since the US Constitution was ratified in 1788, the House has impeached three presidents, but the Senate has never convicted and removed a president of the United States from office. - __Andrew Johnson (1868)__: Vice President Andrew Johnson, the first president to be impeached, assumed the presidency after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, which forbade presidents from firing cabinet officials without Congressional approval. Johnson violated this law by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and the House of Representatives responded by impeaching him. Johnson survived his Senate trial by a single vote and remained in the White House for the remainder of his term. - __Bill Clinton (1998)__: During President Bill Clinton's second term in office, special counsel Kenneth W. Starr discovered evidence that Clinton had engaged in an extramarital affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. When questioned about the affair under oath, Clinton lied to investigators, causing Republican House representatives to bring impeachment charges for lying under oath and obstruction of justice. A House majority vote impeached Clinton in December 1998, but the Senate fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for conviction and he remained in office. - __Donald Trump (2019)__: In the fall of 2019, an executive branch whistleblower claimed that President Donald Trump had attempted to convince the government of Ukraine to accuse his political rival, Joe Biden, of crimes and improprieties. The House of Representatives launched an impeachment inquiry and ultimately brought charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The House impeached Trump and the Senate acquitted him. This first Trump impeachment was notable because Republican Mitt Romney of Utah became the first senator to vote to convict a president from his own party. - __Donald Trump (2021)__: Following a speech Trump gave to supporters in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, some of those in the crowd broke into the Capitol building and disrupted the certification of the Electoral College votes. The House charged Trump with incitement of insurrection and impeached him. These impeachment proceedings led to a second acquittal in the Senate, and this time seven Republicans voted to convict a president from their own party. Other US presidents have been subject to impeachment investigations. The most notable was President Richard Nixon, who was charged by the House Judiciary Committee with obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress for behavior related to a burglary at the Watergate hotel in Washington, D.C. Warned by fellow Republicans that this impeachment resolution would lead to his removal from office, Nixon chose to voluntarily resign in August of 1974. Get the [MasterClass Annual Membership](https://www.masterclass.com) for exclusive access to video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Paul Krugman, David Axelrod, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Karl Rove, Jane Goodall, and more. If the United States Congress believes that a president has violated the terms of their office, it may pursue impeachment and removal from office.