Part I - Constitutional and Statutory Authority

U.S. Const. Art. I § 2, cl. 5.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

U.S. Const. Art. I § 3, cl. 6

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.

U.S. Const. Art. I § 3, cl. 7

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.

U.S. Const. Art. II § 1, cl. 6

In case of removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

U.S. Const. Art. II § 2, cl. 1

The President shall ... have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

U.S. Const. Art. II § 4

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.

U.S. Const. Amendment XXV.

Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

United States Code, Title 3, § 19. Vacancy in offices of President and Vice President *

(a)(1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President.

(b) If ... there is no Speaker, or the Speaker fails to qualify as Acting President, then the President pro tempore of the Senate shall, upon his resignation as President pro tempore and as Senator, act as President.

(c) An individual acting as President under subsection (a) or subsection (b) of this section shall continue to act until the expiration of the then current Presidential term...

(d)(1) If ... there is no President pro tempore to act as President under subsection (b) of this section, then the officer of the United States who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President shall act as President: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Title 28, § 595. Congressional oversight of Independent Counsel

(c) Information relating to impeachment.--An independent counsel shall advise the House of Representatives of any substantial and credible information which such independent counsel receives, in carrying out the independent counsel's responsibilities under this chapter, that may constitute grounds for an impeachment. Nothing in this chapter or section 49 of this title shall prevent the Congress or either House thereof from obtaining information in the course of an impeachment proceeding.

Part II - Standards for Impeachment

1. In The Federalist Papers, No. 65, Hamilton wrote:

"The subjects of [impeachment] jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. The prosecution of them, for this reason, will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused. In many cases it will connect itself with the pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side or on the other; and in such cases there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt.

3. Partly based on these precedents, Congressman Gerald Ford argued--during his unsuccessful attempt to impeach Justice William Douglas--that an impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives says it is. This "political standard" has spawned considerable debate, but no consensus.

4. In one sense, the standards for impeachment are necessarily "political." There is no "appeal" from conviction, because such cases are non-justiciable "political questions." Walter Nixon v. United States, 506 U.S. 224 (1993).

5. Many have argued that impeachable offenses are not limited to criminal acts. Here are some of the terms used historically:

a. "Attempts to subvert the Constitution. " George Mason (Madison apparently agreed). "Maladministration" was rejected by the constitutional convention.

b. "Great offenses against the federal government" (argument during ratification debates)

c. The standard for an impeachable offense includes political offenses that vary with an officeholder's "responsibilities, tenure, political accountability, and actions." Michael Gerhardt

Q. Can a person be impeached even if she has resigned her office?

A. In 1876, the House impeached Secretary of War Belknap. During the trial, Belknap argued that the Senate had no jurisdiction because he had resigned prior to his impeachment. The Senate rejected this argument by a vote of thirty-seven to twenty-nine, but then failed to convict Belknap of any of the articles.

Q. Is the President immune from criminal prosecution before impeachment?

A. Unanswered. For a long time, immunity from prosecution was assumed, but recent commentaries are mixed. See Eric Freedman, The Law As King And The King As Law: Is A President Immune From Criminal Prosecution Before Impeachment?, 20 Hastings Const. L.Q. 7 (1992).

Q. What is the standard of proof at trial (in the Senate) of an impeachment?

A. "The standard of proof should be a high one, such as 'clear and convincing evidence'--the standard used in important, noncriminal cases.... Clear and convincing evidence is typically defined as `that measure or degree of proof which will produce in the mind of the trier of facts a firm belief or conviction as to the allegation sought to be established. It is intermediate, being more than a mere preponderance, but not to the extent of such certainty as is required beyond a reasonable doubt as in criminal cases." R. Rotunda, An Essay on the Constitutional Parameters of Federal Impeachment, 76 Ky. L.J. 707, 719 (1988).

"In the House Impeachment Committee on Richard Nixon, the staff and members of the Committee, (both those who voted for and those who voted against impeachment), agreed that the 'clear and convincing evidence' standard was the correct standard." Id.

Q. Can the President be prosecuted after impeachment?

A. Yes, unless he is pardoned by the then-President. For example, President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for any offenses he may have committed.

Part IV - List of Impeachments 

Part V - Further References

1. William H. Rehnquist, Grand Inquests: The Historic Impeachments Of Justice Samuel Chase And President Andrew Jackson (1992)

2. Michael J. Gerhardt, The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis (1996).

3. Charles L. Black, Jr., Impeachment: A Handbook (1974).

4. Raoul Berger, Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems (1973).
 
 

* Akhil Amar and Vikram Amar argue that this succession statute is unconstitutional. See Is The Presidential Succession Law Constitutional?, 48 Stan. L. Rev. 113 (1995).