Todd Bishop
When US President Donald Trump was directed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he asked the other party to investigate one of the potential opponents of the 2020 US presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden’s son in Ukraine. Business. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Democratic Party, announced on September 24 that he would officially launch an impeachment investigation against Trump, but what procedures are needed to successfully oust the other party?
What is impeachment?
The impeachment is a constitutional process for the House of Representatives to sue elected officials. Members submit the content of the charge to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. After the House of Representatives passes the Senate, the President will resign and step down if he is supported by two-thirds of the Senate.
How does the constitution interpret impeachment?
According to the first paragraph of the first paragraph of the US Constitution, the House of Representatives “has the right to impeach.” The third paragraph of the same article states that the Senate has “the right to try all impeachment cases.” Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Constitution states that “the president, the vice president and the civil servants of the United States Government shall be excused from their positions when convicted of treason, bribery or other felony charges of misdemeanour.”
The Constitution does not explain the definition of felony and misdemeanor, so it is up to Congress to decide what type of crime is enough to constitute impeachment.
What is the procedure for impeachment?
The House of Representatives may investigate the impeachment case filed by members of the House of Representatives or other members of the Special Prosecutor in the Judicial Council. After the committee has listed specific prosecution items, the House of Representatives will vote in a simple majority.
If approved by the House of Representatives, the bill must be submitted to the Senate for trial and the Chief Justice will preside over the process. The motion must be obtained by a majority of two-thirds of the 67 seats in the Senate. In the current situation, the Democratic Party has 47 seats in the Senate. In other words, they need to fight for 53 Republican senators, 20 of whom support it.
If the impeachment case succeeds in the Senate and the House of Representatives, Trump will immediately step down and be replaced by Vice President Mike Pence.
Only three presidents have been impeached in history.
In the history of the United States, three presidents faced impeachment, including Andrew Johnson in 1868, Richard Nixon in 1974, and Bill Clinton in 1998. Among them, Jensen was accused of violating the Tenure of Office Act because of the expulsion of war minister Edwin M. Stanton, but the impeachment bill was only one vote away from the successful impeachment when voting in the Senate.
On the other hand, Clinton was accused of false evidence and obstruction of justice in the case of sexual harassment. However, neither of the two charges was passed by the Senate.
As for Nixon’s investigation into the Watergate, he was investigated by the Senate Judiciary Committee and impeached for impeding justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress. However, before the House of Representatives vote, Nixon has announced his resignation.
