How is Impeachment of president in USA?

General Information and Resources

Impeachment: "The accusation and prosecution of a person for treason or other high crime or misdemeanour before a competent tribunal... in U.S., a similar process in which the accusers are the House of Representatives and the court is the Senate." -- OED Online

• Presidential Impeachment Library, HeinOnline

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  Curated, searchable collection of legal, Congressional, and scholarly resources about the "four affected Presidents."

• Legal Information Institute (LII) Backgrounder on Impeachment, Cornell University

  A legal background on the impeachment process in the United States, including links to documents and other useful sources.

• Impeachment - United States Senate

  Information on the Senate's role in the impeachment process, historical background, and important impeachment cases.

• Impeachment: Congressional Documents

  Extensive guide from Bowdoin College Library.

• Guide to the Presidency

  The impeachment process, its legal backing, specific cases, and their ramifications are included in this text. See the index for a more detailed breakdown of the contents. Print only.

• UW Libraries Catalog Search

  Use or modify this sample catalog search using the subject heading "impeachments -- United States".

• Impeachment Resources - Law Library of Congress Reading Room

  A bibliography organized by author of documents on impeachment held by the Law Library of Congress. Includes both print and online resources. Access these documents via the UW Libraries Catalog, Hathi Trust Digital Library, or request the document through Interlibrary Loan.

Specific Cases

• Authenticated impeachment related publications from govinfo

  Bills, rules, precedents, and other impeachment documents, starting with the Trump presidency and working backwards.

• Finding Precedent: The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, Harper's Weekly

  Resources, including illustrations, editorials, cartoons, and articles, concerning the context of President Andrew Johnson's impeachment in 1868.

• House Resolution 611 Impeaching William Jefferson Clinton

  The December 1998 House of Representative Resolution impeaching President William Jefferson Clinton.

• Independent Counsel Investigations: Clinton - GPO

  Look down the page to the fifteenth entry, for these investigations.

• Presidential Impeachment: Moves Towards Impeachment of Nixon, CQ Researcher

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  An article by Congressional Quarterly Researcher concerning the trend towards impeachment of President Richard Nixon, before his decision to resign from office.

• Senate Documents on the Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton, FDsys

  Table of documents which are available in a variety of formats (text, pdf, or html).

• 15 Jan 2021
• 2 min read

Why in News

Donald Trump has become the first President of the USA in history to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives. He was charged for inciting an insurrection.

• On 6th January, 2021, as the USA Congress assembled to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory, a mob of Donald Trump supporters occupied the USA Capitol in a failed bid to overturn the election results.

Key Points

• Mechanism of Impeachment of President in USA:
  
  • Two Houses: The legislature of the United States of America i.e. Congress of the United States consists of two houses:
    
    • The Senate, in which each state, regardless of its size, is represented by two senators.
    • House of Representatives, to which members are elected on the basis of population.
  • Reasons for Impeachment: The USA Constitution states that the President can be removed for conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanour.
  • Earlier Impeachments:
    
    • Three USA Presidents, Trump in 2019, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868, previously were impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.
    • Thus, no USA President ever has been removed from office through impeachment.
• Mechanism of Impeachment of President in India:
  
  • In India, the President can be removed only for ‘violation of the Constitution’ and the Constitution does not define the meaning of the phrase ‘violation of the Constitution’.
  • The impeachment charges can be initiated by either House of Parliament - Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

Mechanism of Impeachment of President in India and the USA

Source:IE

How can an American president be impeached?

Who has the power to impeach the president of the US?