Fact Check Team: What impeachment really means for a US president

by COURTNEY RAU, JANAE BOWENS | The National Desk

Tue, September 19th 2023, 3:48 PM UTC

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md. Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested Sunday, Aug. 27, that an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden was becoming more likely, calling it “a natural step” as Congress soon ends its summer break and House Republicans seek to expand their investigative power. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., arrives to meet with the House Republican Conference about launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. McCarthy says he's directing a House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md. Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested Sunday, Aug. 27, that an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden was becoming more likely, calling it “a natural step” as Congress soon ends its summer break and House Republicans seek to expand their investigative power. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (TND) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week announced an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over whether he benefitted from his son’s overseas business deals.

There are a few things that would need to happen before a president is removed from office.

The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment and gives the Senate the power to try impeachments. According to the Constitution, the House of Representatives can bring to the floor articles of impeachment against the president, which are just chargers or wrongdoings.

Per Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

If a simple majority votes for the articles, the president would be impeached.

If the articles pass the House, they go to the Senate, which would consider evidence, hear witnesses and vote to acquit or convict the president.

A committee of representatives called managers act as prosecutors before the Senate. For presidential impeachment trials, the U.S. Chief of Justice presides.

The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote to convict and remove the president from office.

Historically, many presidents have had run-ins with impeachment.

In fact, every president since 1981 – except for Obama – had formal impeachment resolutions filed against them.

Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Grover Cleveland, and Ulysses S. Grant also had resolutions introduced.

However, no full House vote was held for any of them.

Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler were lucky, as the House voted against holding inquiries into both, and James Buchanan faced a formal investigation but was not impeached.

Only three presidents have been impeached – Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021 – but all of them were acquitted.

Richard Nixon also faced an impeachment inquiry but resigned before the House vote.

No U.S. president has been convicted and removed from office.

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