The United States has only seen presidential impeachment proceedings occur three times (Andrew Johnson in 1868, Richard Nixon in 1974, and Bill Clinton in 1998), two impeachments (Clinton and Johnson), and no removals from office. So in light of the recent impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, what can we expect in the coming future? Here’s what you need to know:
Initiation of Impeachment:
Impeachment proceedings may start from any member in the House of Representatives, but are usually initiated by the Speaker of the House. They also may be triggered by non-members, such as when the Judicial Conference might recommend the impeachment of a federal judge. An independent counsel could also recommend impeachment, based on credible evidence. Other ways include a recommendation from the President, by a charge from state legislature or grand jury, or by a petition. (Note: “impeachment” does not solely refer to the US President. There have actually been 19 impeachments of non-presidential legislators and judges.)
Once there is a resolution on the floor for impeachment, it then goes to one of two places. For most of the impeachments that have occurred in American history, the resolution first goes to the House Rules Committee, then if deemed credible, will be forwarded to the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee will then investigate whether there are sufficient grounds for impeachment. If it deems there are enough grounds, the Committee is responsible for launching an investigation into the individual in question. It is possible that the Judiciary Committee might delegate this investigation to sub-committee, or a specially designed committee as it did in 1868 when President Johnson was investigated by the House Committee on Reconstruction.
Inquiry and Investigation:
With the resolution under investigation by the House Judiciary Committee, it’s their job to determine whether the individual in question has committed treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors per Article II Section IV of the Constitution. Should an individual be deemed impeachable on one or multiple counts by a majority vote, the Judiciary Committee will then draft an official resolution of impeachment and present it on the House floor in general session. This committee comprises of 24 Democrats (including the Chair and Vice-Chair) and 17 Republicans, representing the majority that the Democrats currently hold in the Senate.
House Action:
Now that the resolution has made its way through the House Judiciary Committee, the House will debate whether there should be a vote or not based on the evidence found by the Judiciary Committee. At the close of debate, even if the House Judiciary Committee doesn’t recommend impeachment, their recommendations are in no way binding and the House can still vote on impeachment. Once the House votes in favor of impeachment, managers are then selected by the Speaker of the House to report the matter to the Senate (historically this has been done by resolution, but in more recent cases it's been done through the Speaker). Managers will then appear before the Senate to announce the decision to impeach the individual.
The Senate and the Trial:
It’s important to note that at this point, the individual has been impeached, but has not been removed from office. Being impeached does not mean you are necessarily a criminal, it just means that the House has decided you aren’t fit to rule. It’s the Senate's role to decide whether the impeached individual is a criminal, and should be removed from office. Following the announcement by the House managers, the Senate will adopt a resolution which will announce to the now impeached individual that they are to appear on a set date before the Senate for their trial. On that date the individual may appear in person or be represented by counsel. For all intents and purposes, the trial proceeds like a normal court case with the Senate serving as the jury, and the managers from the House serving as the prosecutors. Once the trial concludes, the Senate will deliberate and discuss the case in a closed-door setting. Once this takes place, a tally vote of “yays” and “nays” for impeachment will occur on the open floor. From here, if the “yays” win out by a ⅔ vote and the Senate proclaims the individual in question criminal, they are then removed from office.
So now what?
We obviously have a long way to go, and are only in the inquiry stage. While the House Judiciary Committee has not officially been sanctioned to explore evidence that could potentially lead to their recommendation of impeachment, they are reviewing evidence at the moment (as of October 15th). To clarify, this is not the official investigation stage of the process, but only a prior phase. Senators on the committee are investigating the potential for an impeachment, but no official investigation has begun just yet. Should Democrats in the Senate decide there is enough evidence after their inquiry to impeach President Trump, an official investigation will commence, and official impeachment proceedings would be underway. While Democrats have stated they want to move quickly, gaining and analyzing evidence to make a formal recommendation of impeachment will take some time, especially as the President and other Republicans are preventing the committee from subpoenaing certain members of the intelligence community. The Bagpipe’s Hannah Urban wrote an article last issue about how this all started, and we’ll be following how the story progresses.