contents
1. What is an Impeachment?
Impeachment is the process of dismissal of a president, vice-president, or senior official as set forth in the US Constitution. It is part of the system of "checks and balances" that ensures the separation of powers. The Congress can dismiss public officials before the expiration of their mandate.
What separation of powers means, you can see here in an explanatory video:
2. What are possible reasons for initiating an impeachment procedure?
Reasons for initiating the procedure may be, according to Article II, paragraph 4:
- treason
- corruptibility
- or other "serious crimes and misconduct"
High treason and corruption are relatively clear terms. But what exactly counts as a serious crime or wrongdoing has to be decided case by case. The constitutional fathers were concerned with protecting the state and constitution from officials who use their power for their own gain and public trust.
3. How does an impeachment procedure actually work?
Any member of the House of Representatives can initiate an impeachment. The Legal Committee of the House investigates the allegations and decides whether there are grounds for impeachment. If its members agree, they will file an indictment with the entire House of Representatives (pictured). To pass the case to the Senate, a simple majority of the 435 members is enough.
The rest of the case is similar to a lawsuit: Representatives of the House of Representatives submit the impeachment to the Senate. The Senate writes an application and informs the accused. If the impeachment is directed against the president, the senate sits for the trial of the Supreme Judges of the United States. The accused is usually represented by one or more lawyers. Evidence is collected and witnesses and possibly the accused himself are heard. After non-public consultation, the 100 senators vote in public on the impeachment. The votes of the senators present are counted individually for each indictment.
For conviction in one or more points, a two-thirds majority must be achieved. If the President is convicted, the Senate may also vote on whether the convicted person may still take public office in the future.
4. Has a president ever been deposed by an impeachment?
No, in the history of the United States, a president has never lost his job through impeachment. Twice, however, there was an attempt to elect a president from office.
- In 1868 , a lawsuit against Andrew Johnson was initiated because he had deposed the Minister of War without the necessary approval of the Senate. The Senate released the president, but only one vote was required for conviction.
- In 1998 , the majority Republican House of Representatives launched a lawsuit against Democrat Bill Clinton (photo) for perjury and obstruction of justice in the wake of the Lewinsky affair. It failed as well.
- In 1974 , US President Richard Nixon came before an impeachment after the Watergate affair by a resignation.
5. How likely is it that Trump will be dropped off by an impeachment?
The fact that impeachments against presidents have so far been rare and never successful is already the answer. The complex procedure needs majorities in both chambers of Congress. These were, however, until the fall of 2018 in Republican hands. After the midterms, the House of Representatives is dominated by the Democrats, while the Senate continues to have a Republican majority. A simple majority in the House of Representatives is enough to impose an impeachment. However, the Democrats are still shying away from this act, especially as ultimately the Senators decide by a two-thirds majority on the fate of the President. As long as Trump continues to enjoy the support of his party friends in the Senate, the Democrats will not take the risk so quickly to act against him in this way.
6. What other possibility does the Constitution offer to depose a president?
Another possibility is the 25th Amendment. This has been in effect since 1967 and regulates the premature succession to office of a presidency. Accordingly, the vice-president may take over if the incumbent president is no longer able to exercise his office. So in the case of resignation, impeachment or death, but also in the event of permanent or temporary incapacitation. In paragraph 3, the President himself may declare in writing his inability to act and revoke it as well. In the meantime, his deputy takes over acting as acting president. Paragraph 4 of this amendment regulates a transfer of official duties in the event that a president can not declare his inability to act, for example because he is in a coma, or does not want to explain, for example under the influence of a mental illness.
The Vice-President and the majority of the Cabinet or any other body appointed by the Congress may declare in writing to the heads of the Congress that the President can no longer serve. Then the vice president takes over the business. The President can contradict his incapacitation. If the Vice and Cabinet remain in their decision, the Congress must within a few weeks confirm the incapacity by a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
7. How likely is this variant?
Paragraph 4 has never been used and it is also very unlikely that it will be used in the form. The very question of who should find out that he is incapacitated for mental reasons is unclear. To reliably diagnose a mental illness is difficult, and even more difficult, with the cooperation of the patient, if such a diagnosis were to be based on pure observation. He also touches on the question of loyalty at heart: A vice president who finds out he's even thinking of disempowering his supervisor can get sidelined very quickly, as well as co-operating ministers. The situation may be similar in Congress: the presidential party must question the spiritual integrity of its power, embodied by its own president. A very serious decision.
8. What happens after a dismissal of the president?
Since such a deposition has not yet occurred in American history, this remains a theoretical question with some unknowns. If Trump's opponents bring an impeachment despite all odds through both chambers of parliament, would take over purely formally his deputy: Vice President Mike Pence (pictured). He would rule until the end of the legislature - early elections does not provide for the US Constitution. Extremely unlikely, but theoretically conceivable: Should the vice president also be targeted by the congress, the speaker of the House of Representatives would be appointed president. This is since January 2019 the Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
Read the full version of this article on mirror.de.
Authors: Almut Cieschinger, Kevin Hagen, Mara Küpper, Claudia Niesen
Production : Guido Grigat
Layout : Katja Braun, Hanz Sayami
Programming : Guido Grigat, Frank Kalinowski, Chris Kurt
Here are all the episodes published so far: 5G, Brexit, General Data Protection Regulation, Trump's Russia Affair, Oil, Fifa, Financial Crisis in Greece, Refugee Crisis, G20 in Hamburg, Hacking, Impeachment, "Islamic State", Carnival, Climate Change , War in Syria, Artificial Intelligence, North Korea Conflict, Panama Papers, Putin - Russia's Eternal President, Pension, Taxes, TTIP, Turkish Constitutional Reform, US Primary Elections, US Election, VW Waste Affair, Election 2017, Interest
