Impeachment - Is incompetence grounds for? Possible?

Question

This is purely hypothetical, because I would never suggest that our president is incompetent. (Okay, I might suggest it, but that's not the purpose of my question.)

Yes, I'm showing my ignorance here, but I don't remember studying about whether incompetence was an impeachable offense. We can fire bad employees for poor performance; is it possible to "fire" a president, or must s/he actually break a law? (And yes, I know you can impeach a president without actually removing him/her from office.)

Hypothetically, (I say again), is it POSSIBLE, and if so, what authority would ultimately have the power to deam the respective performance "incompetent?"

Hope springs eternal.

Tsk. Tsk. Such hurtfulness. Children ask for Yahoo Answerers to do their homework for them all of the time, yet an old lady asks for clarification on the Constitution and she gets called nasty names. WTF, isn't that what Yahoo Answers is for?

For those of you who took the time to actually answer my question without being hurtful or judgmental, I truly appreciate it.

Answer 1

The Constitution specifically states that the President may be removed from office for "high crimes and misdemeanors."
(Article II, Section 4)

They have to charge him with a criminal act.
In the impeachment phase, the House of Representatives decides whether or not there are grounds for charges. If so, they impeach the president, just as a grand jury indicts a defendant in a standard criminal proceeding.
(Article I, Section 2)

Then the president is tried in the Senate, just like a jury trial, with the Chief Justice presiding. If two-thirds of the Senate finds the president guilty, he is removed from office.
(Article I, Section 3)

Answer 2

Well, since a group of busybodies actually got a President impeached (though NOT removed--ha, ha!) for getting fellated in the Oval Office, I would hope that incompetence would be sufficient grounds for impeachment proceedings. The trouble is, using such grounds could happen during every Presidency, and it was farcical enough the last time it happened.

I mean, is an extramarital sex act really worse than say, committing malfeasance of office, or going to war under false pretenses? Apparently some people thought so, and continue to think so. Okay. . . .

Answer 3

I don't think the issue is incompetence. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney should both be impeached, indicted and jailed for breaking both domestic Constitutional laws and International laws:
1) Used information he knew to be false as justification for the U.S. invasion of Iraq;
2) Has spent almost a half Trillion Dollars of the American peoples money on the Iraq War and Occupation;
3) Authorized the torture of prisoners of war;
4) Authorized wiretaps on U.S. citizens without obtaining a warrant;
5) Suspended and denied the historic Writ of Habeas Corpus by ordering the indefinite detention of
so-called enemy combatants without charge and without access to legal counsel;
6) Overstepped Presidential authority by signing statements used to ignore or circumvent portions of over
750 Congressional statutes he brought into law.

Answer 4

If incompetence was an impeachable offense 1/2 of all US presidents would have been impeached.

Answer 5

Who cares about the incompetence of George Walker Bush as the moron and his corrupt Administration will be gone in 20 months. With a Democratic Congress and the Republicans starting to turn on him over Iraq if there isn't changes by fall, he is virtually now with his hands tied to pull anymore of his lies and bull'****. He can no longer Cry Wolf because the majority of Americans know that he is a Lame Duck President and he is done for..

Answer 6

The Constitution specifically states that the President must be charged with a high crime or misdemeanor before being impeached. Being incompetent is not illegal, so it cannot be grounds for impeachment.

Answer 7

I do not believe that Congress will be able to have the necessary number of votes to impeach Bush. Impeachment usually has a high standard (except for the Clinton impeachment) for initiating such proceedings.

Bush's actions could be characterized (spun) as lapses in judgment, as opposed to incompetence...

Answer 8

Not technically. However, being incompetant in a job like that will usually result in high crimes and misdemeanors. In case your'e wondering, yes, G.W. Bush has committed impeachable offenses. The wiretapping program has been pronounced illegal by constitutional scholars and politicians. There just isn't anyone willing to impeach him.

Answer 9

Sorry. If it were so we would impeach every president. You can not please all the people all the time. Bush has not even been suggested to have committed any criminal offenses. Clinton lied twice during a criminal investigation regarding sexual harassment charges coming his way. Nixon had the balls to resign. SO many have done so much. Bush is only just the flavor of the month. Research more and get back to me.

*win one check out my clinton links I posted 2day about the bubba 9/11 connection

Answer 10

The shape of course states that impeachment is barely achievable interior the case of intense crimes or misdemeanors. lack of self belief, undesirable determination making, etc.... are actually not grounds for impeachment.