impeachment-trial

Teddy – The Impeachment Clause

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Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution is commonly known as the Impeachment Clause. This section states that certain people in the United States government (“the President, Vice President, and all civil Officers”) can be removed from office if they are found guilty of certain types of misconduct (“Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”).

The idea of impeachment came from the English system where as a way to check the King’s power, Parliament could impeach ministers and those favored by the King. Contrary to the English practice at the time where any private or public person except for members of the royal family could be impeached, the Framers of the Constitution sought to limit who could be impeached and the offenses eligible for impeachment.

Per Article I, Section 1, only Congress has impeachment powers. The House of Representatives first must vote to impeach, or formally charge, the individual and then must write the articles which detail the charges before submitting them to the Senate. After convening a trial, the Senate votes on whether to convict and remove the official from office. Influenced by Enlightenment philosophes like Montesquieu, the Framers included the Impeachment Clause to allow Congress to check the Executive and Judicial branches as part of the system of checks and balances they created among the three branches of government. In order to discourage Congress from abusing its power, however, the impeachment process requires bipartisan cooperation to achieve the two-thirds vote required for conviction and removal. As a result, Congress has exercised its impeachment power infrequently, reserving it for cases where an individual’s misconduct is considered too dangerous to remain unchecked.

While judicial precedent is often used to interpret Constitutional provisions, the Judicial Branch has no authority over or involvement in the impeachment process; instead, Congress looks to historical precedent as a guide. As “civil Officers” is not defined in the Constitution, there was once a question as to whether or not members of Congress were included and subject to impeachment, but the common interpretation is that they are not Officers of the United States because Officers are appointed by the President. Instead, other provisions in the Constitution provide ways to remove members of Congress from office.

While Treason and Bribery are well defined concepts, there has been much debate around what constitutes a high Crime or Misdemeanor. In an early draft of the clause, “maladministration” was an impeachable offense, but out of concern that Congress would impeach on any grounds, the Framers replaced the term with “high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” As with other provisions of the Constitution, the Framers were purposely ambiguous in their wording in order to create a lasting system of government that is flexible enough to address unexpected circumstances and allow the removal of an official whose behavior is harmful to the public. It is commonly understood that this clause exists to allow a process for removing government officials not for incompetence, but for abuses of power.

Article II, Section 4 (Impeachment Clause)-Mira Gulati

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The impeachment clause in Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution is one of the most important powers given to Congress. It embodies the key principles of separation of powers and checks and balances embedded in the document. These principles were created by Baron Montesquieu, an Enlightenment thinker, who said that separating the branches and holding each other accountable was essential to preventing abuse of power that denied people their liberty. 

The objective of the impeachment clause was to provide Congress with another safeguard for this abuse of power, stating that “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.”  An earlier draft of the impeachment clause held that officials could be impeached for “Treason, Bribery, or maladministration” James Madison and the Philadelphia delegates objected to the wording and said that its obscurity would result in unreasonable impeachments. As a result, the word ‘maladministration’ was removed in favor of ‘other high crimes and Misdemeanors’ With these new revisions, congress instituted a clause that allowed the House of Representatives to bring charges against any official that has committed a crime or worked against the will of the American people. The exclusion of ‘maladministration’ makes it clear that unfitness for the post is not a valid reason for impeachment. However, the full grounds for impeachment are still not clarified with the new phrase and the meaning of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ is still debated today. 

The different interpretations came into play during former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1999. The impeachment arrived after it was revealed that Clinton had lied under oath about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Senate, however, did not find him guilty of the counts of perjury and obstruction of justice Many Democrats advocated that while Clinton’s behavior was morally punishable, it did not affect the public so it did not constitute impeachment. That it was not a ‘high crime’ On the other side of the aisle, Republicans argued that his actions betrayed the trust of the nation and were therefore liable for conviction. 

The Clinton case raised a lot of questions surrounding the conduct of government officials. Many people wondered whether he set a precedent that only wrongdoing related to the President’s decisions involving the nation would constitute an impeachment. Whether only crimes prosecutable by court apply to the clause or misconduct and dishonor did too. If the original clause is to be maintained, only time and more impeachments will answer it. 

An alternate solution, however, lies in an amendment that would revise the last phrase of the Constitution so that the ‘high’ in ‘high crimes’ is removed. This would help clarify whether any crime that an official commits is applicable for impeachment. It does not make sense to have a range of crimes that an official is allowed to commit as they need to be held to the same standards as everyone else in America. The system of checks and balances that are meant to retain the citizen’s liberty holds no power if they do not.