What Is Impeachment, Anyways?
Article by Emerson Segraves, TPT Staff Writer
Picture this. It’s December 18th, 2019. You’re huddled under a blanket watching your preferred news station. Many news stations had switched over to subtly festive music. Vague news of a virus was mentioned here or there. Most of all, Donald Trump was being impeached. Democrats jumped for joy, Republicans dejected. Whether you loved it or hated it, Donald Trump was out of office. Except, he wasn’t. In fact, he wasn’t even out of office the second time he was impeached. This impeachment didn’t seem to do anything at all. So, if not removal of a president from the executive mansion, what is impeachment?
President Donald Trump holds up a newspaper article after being acquitted by the Senate. Photo: The Washington Post
Impeachment is often misconstrued as the removal of the president from his or her executive office, but this could not be further from the case. It makes sense as to why so many believe this about impeachment, as it’s essentially the only legal avenue to get a president out of office. However, Impeachment is simply charging, also known as accusing, a person of the federal government - including officials like judges - with a crime or other forms of improper conduct.
Impeachment as a process is simply described in a few portions of the Constitution. First in Article I Section 2, stating that “The House of Representatives [...] shall have the sole Power of Impeachment,” in Article I Section 3, stating that “the Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation,” and finally once more in Article III Section 2, stating that “The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury.”
That’s a lot of information, so let’s break it down. In the first quote, it provides the lower chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, the exclusive power to impeach. In the second quote, it provides the upper chamber of congress the exclusive power to have a trial post impeachment. In short, the House of Representatives must first impeach a person before they are tried and convicted by the Senate, which is what most people think of when they think of impeachment. So, the process of removing a government figure from office doesn’t even begin until after impeachment has already happened.
President Bill Clinton after his impeachment in 1998. Photo: NBC News/Doug Mills/AP
Impeachment has occurred many times throughout our lengthy history, and the majority of impeachments were not of presidents. In fact, less than 15% of all U.S. impeachments have been of presidents, the majority being judges. Judges are impeached at such high rates because there are simply more judges than presidents.
If 15% seems like a low number, you’ll be shocked to hear how many U.S. presidential impeachments have actually removed a president from the resolute desk. There have been 4 presidential impeachments in U.S. history, those being in order of impeachment, Andrew Johnson (1868), Bill Clinton (1998) and Donald Trump twice (2019 & 2021). Of these 4 presidential impeachments, exactly 0 of them have been removed from office. Why? The answer has almost always been Congressional gridlock.
Like earlier mentioned, presidential impeachment is only the charging of a president with a crime. In the House of Representatives, one only needs a simple majority to impeach a president. To be tried and convicted, however, a president must be convicted with a 2/3rds majority of the senate. In today’s hyper-partisan political climate, that’s simply not going to happen. As much as no one wants to admit it, impeachment and by extension conviction is highly political, and that’s why the conviction of impeached persons is so uncommon. The chances of the senate of Trump’s time coming together with a 2/3rds majority were slim to none.
This is not to say that impeachment by itself is all pointless. Impeachment leaves behind a legacy for the president that is less than favorable, and it’s cloudy as to whether an impeached President can run again. However, it is simply not all it is misconstrued to be.
Whether you like it or not, it is incredibly unlikely that any president in the coming years will be convicted after an impeachment. So next time you’re watching the news during the Holidays, rest assured, or displeased, with the fact that our current or next president can be impeached and remain in office.
The views articulated in this piece are the writer’s own, and do not necessarily reflect the official stances of The Progressive Teen or High School Democrats of America.