Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the
legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office. The actual trial on those charges, and subsequent removal of an official on
conviction on those charges, is separate from the act of
impeachment itself.
Impeachment is analogous to
indictment in regular court proceedings, while trial by the other house is analogous to the
trial before
judge and
jury in regular courts. Typically, the lower house of the legislature will impeach the official and the
upper house will conduct the trial.
At the
federal level,
Article II of the United States Constitution (Section 4) states that "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." The
House of Representatives has the sole power of impeaching, while the
United States Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. The removal of impeached officials is automatic upon conviction in the Senate. In
Nixon v. United States (1993), the
Supreme Court determined that the federal judiciary cannot review such proceedings.
Impeachment can also occur at the
state level;
state legislatures can impeach state officials, including
governors, according to their respective
state constitutions.
At the
Philadelphia Convention,
Benjamin Franklin noted that, historically, the removal of “obnoxious” chief executives had been accomplished by
assassination. Franklin suggested that a proceduralized mechanism for removal — impeachment — would be preferable.
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