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Key Facts
- Federal constitutional level: To impeach means for the House of Representatives to formally accuse a federal official by approving one or more articles of impeachment.
- Federal constitutional level: Impeachment alone does not remove an official; the Senate separately tries the charges and must convict to trigger removal.
- Federal constitutional level: Conviction requires two-thirds of senators present, and the Senate may separately disqualify the person from future federal office.
- Federal constitutional level: Impeachment is not a criminal conviction, and the Constitution permits later criminal prosecution and punishment under ordinary law.
To impeach means to bring formal constitutional charges against a federal official. In the United States, the House of Representatives impeaches by approving articles of impeachment; the Senate then decides in a separate trial whether to convict.
This distinction matters because “impeached” does not mean removed from office, found guilty of a crime, or barred from future public service. It means the House has formally charged the official within Congress’s constitutional process.
Impeachment has two separate constitutional stages
The United States Constitution gives the House the sole power of impeachment and the Senate the sole power to try all impeachments. The arrangement is part of the federal separation of powers, allowing Congress to address serious misconduct by specified officers.
The House stage resembles an accusation, not a final judgment. A simple majority can approve an article of impeachment, which states a charge and sends it to the Senate.
The Senate conducts the trial. Senators sit under oath or affirmation, House members known as managers present the case, and the impeached official may present a defense under the procedures adopted for that trial.
Conviction and removal require a Senate vote
The Constitution requires the concurrence of two-thirds of senators present to convict on an article. An acquittal leaves the House’s historical act of impeachment in place but does not produce removal.
Conviction results in removal from the office covered by the proceeding. The Senate may also vote separately to disqualify the person from holding an office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
When the President is tried, the Chief Justice of the United States presides. That rule prevents the Vice President, who otherwise presides over the Senate and may have a direct succession interest, from presiding over a presidential impeachment trial.
Who may be impeached and for what
Article II identifies the President, Vice President, and civil officers of the United States. Congressional practice has applied impeachment most often to presidents and federal judges, with other executive officials also within the constitutional category.
The stated grounds are treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. The last phrase is a constitutional standard shaped by history and congressional practice rather than a list of offenses in the criminal code.
An impeachable offense therefore need not match a statutory crime. Congressional materials describe impeachment as a remedial protection for constitutional government, including responses to abuse of official power or serious violations of public trust.
Impeachment differs from criminal prosecution
An impeachment trial is a congressional proceeding, not a criminal prosecution before a court and jury. Its constitutional judgment is limited to removal and possible disqualification.
The Constitution expressly leaves an impeached and convicted person subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law. An official can therefore face political-constitutional consequences and criminal proceedings as distinct legal matters.
The presidential pardon power does not extend to cases of impeachment. A pardon may affect federal criminal liability within its lawful scope, but it cannot undo the House’s impeachment power or the Senate’s constitutional judgment.
The Constitution leaves procedure largely to Congress
The House may investigate through committees, authorize an inquiry, debate proposed articles, and appoint managers after impeachment. No single preliminary path is constitutionally required for every case, and historical practices have varied.
The Senate adopts trial procedures, receives the articles, hears presentations, and votes on each article. The Constitution specifies several essentials but does not establish a universal evidentiary code or a fixed standard of proof for members’ votes.
Impeachment is therefore best understood as a structured congressional accountability mechanism. The House decides whether to charge, the Senate decides whether to convict, and removal follows only from Senate conviction.
Sources
- Constitution Annotated: Overview of the Impeachment Clause
- United States Senate: About Impeachment
- U.S. House Historian: Impeachment
- Congressional Research Service: Impeachment and the Constitution
- Congressional Research Service: The Impeachment Process in the House
- Congressional Research Service: The Impeachment Process in the Senate
