How does one get impeached?

Question

What are the guidelines of getting a president impeached? What are the steps? Is the normal US citizen involved in this process? Can citizens vote to have a president impeached? This is a serious question. I don't want any political opinions. I just want facts

I don't really care about conviction, just impeachment. Are there any serious impeachment activists out there? I know Bush's term is almost up, but he can't leave office with a mess behind him untainted.

Answer 1

The president can be impeached by a majority in the House of Representatives. The actual steps are less important than the composition of the House of Representatives and the political will to impeach.

The Democrats have that majority and could impeach Bush if they wanted to. The Articles of Impeachment would state the grounds of the “high crimes and misdemeanors” which form the basis of impeachment. The term “high crimes and misdemeanors” is somewhat vague. Violating the law, for example the FISA law, could be grounds for impeachment.

Republicans impeached Clinton because they could and they weren’t very concerned about whether he would be convicted by the Senate, which he wasn’t. The idea was to embarrass him and set up campaign points for the 2000 election.

Answer 2

The President can only be impeached if he or she knowingly and willfully violates a law. President Clinton was impeached for perjury (lying to a grand jury) and obstruction of justice.

According to Article 1 Section 2 Clause 5 of the United States Constitution, the House Judiciary Committee initially files bills of impeachment and conduct hearings. People would be subpoenaed to testify under oath either for or against the bills and states the reason why.

After conducting hearings, the House Judiciary Committee members will vote to impeach or not to impeach. If the vote is to impeach, it will go before the entire House of Representatives for debate. After debate, a motion to the Speaker will be made to question where the entire House of Representative will vote. A majority vote to impeach would mean a trial would be conducted before the United States Senate and presided by the Chief Justice of The United States which Federal Rules of Evidence applies (In accordance to Article 1 Section 3 Clause 1 of the Constitution). After the trial, the Senate votes to convict or not. It takes 67 votes to convict.

Answer 3

Impeachment is a political process, first the House of Representatives votes on articles of Impeachment, if they are passed by the House, the case moves to the Senate where a vote is taken whether or not to convict, 2 Presidents have been Impeached in America, but none have been convicted

Answer 4

One must have committed acts that fall under the established definitions of bribery, treason, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. (Remember the "and" -- it's very important, as it means that both must have taken place for a valid charge for impeachment.) Bribery and treason are pretty obvious -- you take money from someone to do something, or you send classified information or something to an enemy. High crimes and misdemeanors are a little more sticky: something like theft isn't necessarily a high crime unless it's on a tremendous scale, but murder certainly is. A misdemeanor is all the other little crimes you can commit, like theft or vandalism. And then the impeachment itself is just a formal accusation of an official having committed a crime; if the impeachment is successful, the person then stands trial for his actions. However, that person still holds his office until the court determines he's guilty of the crime and declares his powers officially revoked.

Sorry for the politics here, but don't ask me -- ask, for example, our dear mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson. According to him, not liking someone's policies is perfect grounds for impeachment.

Answer 5

For the executive branch, only those who have allegedly committed "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" may be impeached. Although treason and bribery are obvious, the Constitution is silent on what constitutes a "high crime or misdemeanor." Several commentators have suggested that Congress alone may decide for itself what constitutes an impeachable offense. In 1970, then-Representative Gerald R. Ford defined the criteria as he saw it: "An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history." Four years later, Ford would assume the Presidency, following the resignation of President Richard Nixon. (Nixon resigned following a committee vote to approve impeachment proceedings, but before actual impeachment by the full House.)

Answer 6

once extra I even could clarify that impeachment ought to contain an "impeachable" offense it truly is a "intense crime or misdemeanor." proper wing lack of expertise, paranoia and hysteria does no longer in any respect characterize an "impeachable offense. So whatever you need to imagine, impeachment heavily could no longer ensue till Obama commits an impeachable offense, so possibly this form of stupid question could wait till that takes position.

Answer 7

No, impeachment is an act of Congress. If you feel strongly on the issue, make sure you contact your representatives and tell them.

Answer 8

I think you have to diddle with the help in the white house.
Certainly, not lying about weapons of mass destruction and a mushroom cloud threat doesn't have a thing to do with it.
Sending young men and women to die for a useless cause, i.,e., victory? win? in Iraq. Why are we there, they say? But, they keep on dying and our President promises a surge. A surge? Yes., that will relieve the pressure on the young men and women that are fighting there now...right? Nooooo, it increases their chance of dying, Mr. President Bush.
The Republican right wing and this Republican President are bringing death to young men and women in uniform and depleting the budget of the United States.
Our National image is in the pits. No country respects the United States.

Answer 9

Look up the charges they filed against Clinton, that will tell you.