"The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush"How to Impeach | Constitution | High Crimes | Cities and States | Grounds | Treaties | Articles of Impeachment | Process | History | Rules |
The Process of Impeachment
Initiating Impeachment
There are several ways that impeachment can be initiated. The ones that have worked before are listed in Section 603 of the Jefferson's manual. They include:
- A member of the House introduces an impeachment resolution.
- A grand jury submits charges.
- An investigating committee submits charges.
- A state petitions Congress with a set of charges. (A city could also do this but it hasn't succeeded yet.)
The Steps of Impeachment
The Constitution defines the role of the House and Senate in impeachment.
- The House Judiciary Committee conducts the inquiry or investigation into the crimes. The Judiciary Committee has the authority to do this on their own. But if they need to conduct a detailed investigation then they can seek approval for an impeachment inquiry from the House. This approval could grant them special powers including the power to depose witness in the field under oath. Here is the resolution approving Clinton's impeachment inquiry. More details here.
- The House Judiciary Committee drafts Articles of Impeachment (charges) by a majority vote.
- The House of Representatives holds a debate.
- The House can vote on them all at once but they are more likely to "divide the question" and vote on each article individually. If at least one passes with a 50.5% majority vote then the individual is "impeached".
- The Senate conducts a trial and can convict with a 2/3 majority of those Senators present.
- If convicted then the person is removed from office.
It is possible to skip steps 1 & 2 if a Representative introduces Articles of Impeachment directly. But that resolution would most likely just get referred to the Judiciary for step #1. That is what happened with Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment for impeach Dick Cheney.
Privilege
According to the Jefferson Manual LIII, Section 604, resolutions that call for impeachment, or call for an investigations that suggests impeachment may be an end, are considered "privileged" and must be addressed before other business. More details on privilege here.
Our Job
We need to pressure the House Judiciary Committee to get started. Here is a list of members. Please contact your representative and ask them to get the ball rolling. Once the impeachment process starts, it is important that we continue to support our representatives all the way through.
List of Judiciary Committee Members with website and contact info.
