Is There An Election After A Presidential Impeachment
No, there won’t be another election.
If Donald Trump’s case had gone through a speedy trial in Senate, and this chamber had voted to convict him prior to Joe Biden being inaugurated as president, then vice-president Pence would immediately have taken the oath of office and become president for the remaining days of the administration.
What Does The Constitution Say The Penalty For Trump Is If Hes Convicted
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
How Is The Trump Investigation Different From What Happened With Clinton
Three committees in the House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs are conducting investigations, gathering documents and calling witnesses in the inquiry into Trump. In the Clinton impeachment, one committee, the House Judiciary, relied heavily on a report compiled by Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who led the investigation, that listed 11 possible grounds for impeachment in four categories perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and abuse of power.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said that while the Intelligence Committee will take the lead in investigating Trump, the actual vote on specific articles of impeachment will be conducted by the Judiciary Committee and could draw on the conclusions of other House committees, too, though that seems unlikely. The process of voting on the articles, known as the committee mark-up, will be televised and will likely take place over several days.
House Judiciary took six days to recommend articles of impeachment against Nixon in July 1974 and three days to recommend articles of impeachment against Clinton in December 1998.
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Must The Senate Hold A Trial Or Can It Simply Sit On The House Articles Of Impeachment
The Constitution simply says the Senate has “the sole power to try all impeachments,” and some scholars have suggested this means the Senate is empowered but not required to carry out this function. But Senate rules suggest that it’s a duty, not an option. Note the word “shall” in Senate Impeachment Rule One:
“Whensoever the Senate shall receive notice from the House of Representatives that managers are appointed on their part to conduct an impeachment against any person and are directed to carry articles of impeachment to the Senate, the Secretary of the Senate shall immediately inform the House of Representatives that the Senate is ready to receive the managers for the purpose of exhibiting such articles of impeachment, agreeably to such notice.”
In any event, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said: “Under the impeachment rules of the Senate, we’ll take the matter up. … We intend to do our constitutional responsibility.”
What Did Trump Do
Trump is being investigated following reports that he pressured a foreign government Ukraine to dig up dirt on one of his political rivals, Joe Biden.
Biden is leading the race to run against Trump in next years presidential election.
“The president must be held accountable,” said U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she announced she would be launching an investigation into Trump on Tuesday.
“No one is above the law, she said.
On Sept. 24, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the beginning of a process that could lead to Trump losing his job as U.S. president.
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Can He Be Tried Now He Has Left
It is never happened before, so it is untested and the US Constitution does not say.
Impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon were ended when he quit in 1974.
So Mr Trump could take his case to the Supreme Court, claiming his trial was unconstitutional.
Some lower ranked officials have been impeached after leaving office.
What Does Trumps Impeachment Mean For Ukraine
Ukraine fought to pivot westwards, but Trumps impeachment is toxic advertising for the nation, say analysts.
Kyiv, Ukraine Many politicians, public figures and average Ukrainians have been flattered and even proud that their ex-Soviet nation has become the focal point of a political maelstrom that has engulfed US President Donald Trump and may yet terminate his presidency.
Almost six years after Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea and the separatist uprising in the southeastern Donbass region that has claimed more than 13,000 lives and become Europes hottest armed conflict, many Ukrainians felt abandoned by the West. After all, pro-Western protesters won two revolutions in 2004 and 2014, overthrowing a pro-Russian president and enshrining Ukraines intention to join the European Union and NATO in their constitution.
We bled to stop Russias aggression, only to see how Germany makes gas deals with Putin and Trump praises him, Olena Zabuzhko, a real estate agent in Kyiv, told Al Jazeera. Her business was affected by the crippling economic crisis that followed the annexation and disruption of economic ties with Russia.
But Trumps impeachment instils fear in her.
Were done. If Trump stays in power, hell hit us hard. If Democrats win, they will be against us, too, because we almost agreed to investigate Bidens son, the-48 year-old Zabuzhko said.
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What Does Impeachment Mean And How Does It Work
In the United States, impeachment is the process that starts once the House of Representatives accuses the president, the vice president or a federal officer of misconduct. The basic rules of how an impeachment works are written in Article One of the United States Constitution.
- According to the Constitution, a person can be impeached for Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors without defining high crimes and misdemeanors. Amongst others, Congress considers abusing the powers of the office or misusing the office for personal gain as being reasons for an impeachment.
- The impeachment process is not punitive, meaning that its role is just to remove a person from office , without any further punishment. For that person to be convicted under the law a criminal or civil trial is needed.
- To start the impeachment process, Congress must first of all investigate. If there are enough reasons to start the impeachment process, formal allegation will be formulated.
- In order for someone to be impeached, the House of Representatives must pass the articles of impeachment, by a simple majority of those present and voting.
- The Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. If the impeached person is the US president, the Chief Justice of the United States will be the presiding officer, according to the Constitution. For a person to be convicted, a two-thirds supermajority of the votes cast is needed.
Can The 25th Amendment Be Used To Remove Trump
A day after Donald Trump incited supporters to attack the US Capitol, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him from office, saying This president should not hold office one day longer.
The 25th Amendment declares that upon the removal, resignation or death of the president, the VP assumes the presidency, explains The Conversation.
Commonly referred to as the Disability Clause, this constitutional provision also specifies that if the president is unable to perform the functions of his office, the VP will serve as acting president.
The 25th Amendment has been invoked only a few times in history.
In 2002 and 2007, President George W. Bush invoked the Disability Clause prior to scheduled colonoscopy procedures that required anaesthesia and sedation.
During this limited time, vice president Dick Cheney became acting president.
“But there is no precedent for the type of situation currently facing the United States,” writes Stephanie Newbold, Associate Professor, public affairs and administration, Rutgers University, Newark.
Vice president Pence told House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on January 12 that he is opposed to invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office after his supporters laid siege to the US Capitol.
Pence said: I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution.
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Donald Trump Impeachment: What Would It Mean
Why are US Democrats seeking to impeach Trump just days before his term ends? DW asked experts what’s behind the move to try and remove him from office for the second time.
For the Democrats, the move to try and impeach Trump goes beyond mere symbolism
US Democrats want Trump to leave office and never return. Shortly before his term as president ends, they are pushing for a second impeachment that would ensure he can never make a comeback.
“The symbolism is ‘look, we want to make clear that nobody is above the law,'” explains Sheri Berman, a political scientist at Barnard College, which is affiliated to Columbia University in New York. “The president incited sedition, incited violence and so it’s important for democracy with the rule of law to hold him accountable.”
In an interview with DW, Berman went on to point out the significance of 14th Amendment, which Democrats are also citing in their efforts to impeach Trump.
“Should he be convicted in the Senate, the idea would be to bar him from holding office again,” explained Berman. A president of the United States may serve two terms. But the terms do not need to be consecutive, which means Trump could seek re-election in 2024. A conviction in a Senate impeachment trial, however, could bar him from holding public office in the future.
What Is The Prosecution’s Case
Democrats prosecuting the case opened the proceedings by showing a dramatic video montage of Mr Trump’s 6 January speech and the deadly rioting by some of his supporters.
“That’s a high crime and misdemeanour,” Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland – who is leading the case – said of the footage. “If that’s not an impeachable offence, then there’s no such thing.”
They say Mr Trump is “personally responsible” for the riot and must be convicted.
According to a pre-trial legal brief, they will say his repeated refusal to concede the election led to an “incitement of insurrection against the republic he swore to protect”.
Mr Trump’s “statements turned his ‘wild’ rally on 6 January into a powder keg waiting to blow”, they will argue.
Although he is no longer in office, Mr Trump “must answer comprehensively for his conduct in office from his first day in office through his last”, Democrats argue.
They have called for Mr Trump to be disqualified from ever running for office again.
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Democrats Are Calling For The President To Be Impeached After Rioters Stormed The Us Capitol Last Week
Democrats are are attempting to impeach Donald Trump after he incited his supporters to storm the US Capitol last week.
In December 2019, President Trump was impeached for pressuring the Ukrainian president to investigate President-elect Biden, but the Senate acquitted him in February 2020.
However many Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi want him to be removed again for inciting violence against the government.
Heres what you need to know about Mr Trumps impeachment.
What Does The Constitution Say About The Senate’s Role
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
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What Happens If Trump Is Impeached But Isnt Removed From Office
According to Michael Gerhardt, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law and author of Impeachment: What Everyone Needs to Know, if Trump is impeached in the House but the Senate does not vote to convict him, he would likely remain in office and would be eligible to run for re-election.
Hell emerge from this process if hes not convicted and removed the likelihood is that he wont be convicted and removed claiming hes been exonerated and then lambasting the Democrats for a sham process, he said.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said he was very confident at his chances of being re-elected despite the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
Gerhardt says it is likely that how the House voted and whatever the Senate did would become an issue in the upcoming presidential election.
If Trump is re-elected, Gerhardt says there is no rule in the U.S. Constitution that prevents Congress from attempting to impeach a president more than once.
However, he says, general congressional practice suggests it would be inappropriate to impeach a president for the same misconduct twice.
But if there were different misconduct then theres nothing in the constitution that bars the house from impeaching again, he said.
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According to Gerhardt, a precedent was set for this back when John Tyler, Americas 10th president, was in office.
