Ohio Democrats State Logo

Ohio Democratic

County Chairs Association

Ohio Democrats Party ODP Logo

Main Navigation

Menu

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • County Chairs
    • County Chairs of the Year – 2020
    • ODCCA Officers
      • Message from President Janet Carson
    • ODCCA Executive Committee, Regional Liaisons & Committees
    • ODCCA Constitution and Bylaws
    • How Ohio’s 88 counties got their names
    • WHY We Are Democrats!
    • Ohio Democratic Party (ODP)
      • History: Ohio Democratic Party
    • Democratic National Committee (DNC)
      • DNC Chair Jaime Harrison
      • DNC Officers
      • The 2020 Democratic Platform
  • Team
    • President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris
    • Senator Sherrod Brown
    • Congresswoman Joyce Beatty
    • Congresswoman Marcia Fudge
    • Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur
    • Congressman Tim Ryan
    • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly
    • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody J. Stewart
    • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Brunner
    • State Senate Minority Leadership – 134th General Assembly
    • State House Minority Leadership – 134th General Assembly
    • Former President Barack Obama
  • Candidates
    • Interested in being a candidate?
      • Main Street Initiative – 2021
      • Candidate Information: Guides, Forms, Links
    • Are You Ready To VOTE?
  • Issues
  • News
  • Events
    • ODCCA
      • ODCCA Meetings & ODP Co-Hosted Events
      • ODCCA & ODP County Chairs Weekly Conference Calls
    • Local County Parties
    • ODP
      • County Chairs Conference Calls
    • DNC
      • 2020 Democratic National Convention – 8.17-20.2020
    • Are you ready to vote in 2021?
  • Contact Us
  • Links
  • Members Only

How does the impeachment process work?

September 24, 2019

Nancy Pelosi Announces
Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump
The New York Times

 

Have you read the Whistlerblower’s Complaint?
Here is a link for you to LISTEN to it!
Read by Saskia Maarleveld
Listen to the Whistlerblower’s Complaint
as you drive, ride or do other activities!

 

What impeachment is and
how the process works

By: Joseph A. Gambardello | Philadelphia Inquirer
Updated: September 24, 2019

Impeachment is a constitutional process under which an elected official, including the president, is charged with an offense or offenses warranting removal from office. To impeach is a term meaning to charge or to accuse, and articles of impeachment are, in effect, an indictment.

Unlike other elected officials, who can be charged with crimes and removed from office if convicted in a court, a president cannot be charged with a criminal offense under current Department of Justice guidelines, something Democrats have argued should be changed through legislation.

What are impeachable offenses?

Impeachment and its potential repercussions are described in Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution: “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.”

Generally, legal scholars say, high crimes and misdemeanors can be anything that the House determines rises to the level of abuse of office or violation of public trust. In 1970, then-congressman and future president, Gerald Ford, said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

What is the impeachment process?

House vote: The power to impeach rests with the House of Representatives under Article I, Section 2, Clause 5. There is no defined procedure for impeachment, and it requires only a majority vote by the House. Any action preceding an impeachment vote, such as investigatory hearings, are up to the House to define and pursue. In recent times, that responsibility has fallen to the House Judiciary Committee after the House passed a resolution authorizing the panel to begin an investigation.

Senate trial: If the House votes to impeach a president, it is then up to the Senate to try the case.

The Constitution spells outs two specific requirements in trying an impeached president:

  1. The Chief Justice of the United States should preside instead of the vice president.
  2. A vote of two-thirds of the senators “present” is needed to convict.

The Senate, over the years, has developed its own rules for handling impeachments, including the appointment of a small number of senators to operate as a trial committee to gather evidence and take testimony.

What happens when an official is impeached?

The penalty: The only penalty of conviction is removal from office “and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.”

The removed official, however, still can also be charged and tried in a court of law.

Past impeachment outcomes: Since the Constitution was ratified in 1790, the House has impeached 19 federal officials, including two presidents: Andrew Johnson (1868) and Bill Clinton (1998).

Both Johnson and Clinton were acquitted. Of the other officials, eight (all judges) were convicted, and seven were acquitted. Four did not go to trial: Three resigned and one was removed from office after impeachment.

Richard Nixon resigned as president in August 1974, after the House Judiciary Committee drew up three articles of impeachment but before the full House could vote on them.

 

A look at past impeachment proceedings
and how they’ve ended

PBS | Politics | September 24, 2019 | By: David Crary – AP

Donald Trump joins a small group of fellow presidents now that he’s the subject of an official impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives. Only three of his predecessors underwent similar proceedings: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, who were acquitted after trials in the Senate, and Richard Nixon, who resigned to avoid being impeached in connection with the Watergate scandal.

The rarely used procedure is spelled out in Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the president and other officers of government “shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The first step toward impeachment is taken by the House, which debates and votes on whether to bring charges. This can be done by a simple majority of the House’s 435 members.

If the House adopts an impeachment resolution, the Senate then holds a trial, with the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presiding. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the Senate to convict and remove a president — an outcome that has yet to occur.

Only 20 government officers in all, including Johnson and Clinton, have been impeached, and only eight of them, all federal judges with lifetime tenure, have been convicted and removed from office.

A brief look at past presidential impeachment proceedings:

BILL CLINTON

The Republican-controlled House voted in October 1998 to begin impeachment proceedings against Clinton after months of controversy over his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

That vote was triggered by two rounds of testimony given by Clinton earlier in the year. In January, he denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky; in August, under questioning from independent counsel Kenneth Starr before a federal grand jury, he testified that he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky.

Clinton was impeached on Dec. 19, 1998, on the grounds of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice. A Senate trial against Clinton commenced on Jan. 7, 1999, and unfolded over four weeks, with Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding.

On Feb. 12, the Senate voted to acquit Clinton on both charges — falling far short of the 67 votes needed to convict. Only 45 senators voted for conviction on the perjury charge, and 50 for the obstruction charge.

RICHARD NIXON

The House initiated an impeachment process against Nixon in February 1974, authorizing the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether grounds existed to impeach him of high crimes and misdemeanors. The charges mostly related to Watergate — shorthand for the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the Nixon administration’s attempts to cover up its involvement.

In July 1974, the Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon — for obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress.

Before the full House could vote on the articles of impeachment, a previously undisclosed audio tape was released that made clear Nixon had a role in the cover-up. He resigned from office on Aug. 9, 1974.

ANDREW JOHNSON

Johnson’s impeachment in 1868 was the culmination of a bitter dispute between the president and the Republican-controlled House over Reconstruction following the Civil War.

The specific trigger for impeachment was Johnson’s attempt to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who favored a tougher approach than Johnson toward the defeated South. Nine of 11 impeachment articles concerned the head of the War Department.

The House voted to impeach Johnson on March 3, 1868. Three days later, the Senate convened a formal impeachment trial, with Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding.

On May 16, after an often-stormy trial, the Senate failed to convict Johnson on one of the 11 articles, falling short of the necessary two-thirds majority by one vote. After a 10-day recess, two more votes failed by the same margin, and the trial was adjourned.

Blog Sidebar

Search the Site

Categories

  • Events
    • DNC
    • Local County Parties
    • ODCCA
    • ODP
  • Issues
    • Federal
    • State
  • News
  • Photo Galleries
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Ohio Democratic Party Executive Committee elects chair
  • Georgia turns BLUE!
  • Are you ready to vote in 2021?
  • Want to help flip Georgia BLUE? Here are a few ideas!
  • First Presidential Debate to be held in Cleveland! Tuesday, 9.29.2020

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013

Trending

absentee ballots Budget Campaign Finance Charter school College Affordability congressional redistricting DNC early voting Economy education Elections Equal Pay Events Fact Check FBI Fraud Governor Governor 2018 heroin Higher Education jobs local government funding Medicaid Expansion Mental Health military ODCCA ODP Ohio AFL-CIO Right To Work SB5 School funding State Auditor State Treasurer taxes unemployment Unions Veterans Voter Protection Voter Registration Voters Rights voter suppression voting rights women's caucus Women's Issues workers

Contribute to ODCCA

Donate Now

Your contributions
DO make a difference!

When you contribute,
you make a difference in Ohio!
Thank You!

Donate Now

Recent News

  • Ohio Democratic Party Executive Committee elects chair
  • Georgia turns BLUE!
  • Want to help flip Georgia BLUE? Here are a few ideas!
  • First Presidential Debate to be held in Cleveland! Tuesday, 9.29.2020
  • BidenHarris2020 – We are 1 Team!
  • Be Safe! Stay Home! Still Vote! Be Prepared for November General Election!
  • Extended Primary Election: Vote By Mail ONLY through April 28, 2020
  •  
  • View all news

Current Issues

  • What issues may be on the ballot? Who determines what issue is on ballot?
  • United States Census 2020
  • Ohio stuck with gerrymandered congressional districts
  •  
  • View all issues

Pages

  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • Team
  • Candidates
  • Issues
  • News
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • Links
  • Members Only
Donate Now

© 2014 Ohio Democratic County Chairs Association, All Rights Reserved

Paid for and authorized by the Ohio Democratic County Chairs Association, Amy F. Grubbe/Treasurer, 2810 Hull Road #6, Huron 44839.

Not authorized by any Federal, state or county candidate or campaign committee.