Editing Impeachment (section)

===United States===
{{Main|Impeachment in the United States|Federal impeachment in the United States}}
[[File:Senate in session.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Impeachment of Bill Clinton|The impeachment trial]] of [[President of the United States|United States president]] [[Bill Clinton]] in 1999, Chief Justice [[William H. Rehnquist]] presiding. The House managers are seated beside the quarter-circular tables on the left and the president's personal counsel on the right, much in the fashion of [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|United States president Andrew Johnson's trial]] in 1868.]]

In the federal system, [[Article One of the United States Constitution]] provides that the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] has the "sole Power of Impeachment" and the Senate has "the sole Power to try all Impeachments".<ref>''[https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-112/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-112-28.htm House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]'', {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209191843/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-112/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-112-28.htm |date=9 February 2021 }}, chap. 27 (Impeachment). [[U.S. Government Publishing Office]], p. 594 (quoting U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 2, cl. 5; Sec. 3, cl. 6.).</ref> Article Two provides 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]]."<ref name=OfficesEligible>[https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII_S4_1_2_1/ ArtII.S4.1.2.1 Offices Eligible for Impeachment], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318161710/https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII_S4_1_2_1/ |date=18 March 2021 }}, ''Constitution Annotated'', Congress.gov.</ref> In the United States, impeachment is the first of two stages; an official may be impeached by a majority vote of the House, but conviction and removal from office in the Senate requires "the concurrence of two thirds of the members present".<ref name="https">{{cite book|title=U.S. Constitution. Article I, § 3, clause 6|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section3|date=2009-11-12|access-date=5 January 2018|archive-date=18 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118233715/https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section3|url-status=live}}</ref> Impeachment is analogous to an [[indictment]].<ref>''[https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-112/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-112-28.htm House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]'', {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209191843/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-112/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-112-28.htm |date=9 February 2021 }}, chap. 27 (Impeachment). [[U.S. Government Publishing Office]], p. 594: "An impeachment is instituted by a written accusation, called an 'Article of Impeachment,' which states the offense charged. The articles serve a purpose similar to that of an indictment in an ordinary criminal proceeding. Manual Sec. 609."</ref>

According to the House practice manual, "Impeachment is a constitutional remedy to address serious offenses against the system of government. It is the first step in a remedial process{{snd}}that of removal from public office and possible disqualification from holding further office. The purpose of impeachment is not punishment; rather, its function is primarily to maintain constitutional government."<ref>''[https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-112/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-112-28.htm House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]'', {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209191843/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-112/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-112-28.htm |date=9 February 2021 }}, chap. 27 (Impeachment). [[U.S. Government Publishing Office]], p. 591.</ref> Impeachment may be understood as a unique process involving both [[political]] and [[Law|legal]] elements.<ref name=GerhardtTheLaw/><ref name=Gerhardt3dedition/><ref name=Gerhardt20/> The Constitution provides that "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."<ref>[https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI_S3_C7_1_1/ Art I.S3.C7.1.1 Judgment in Cases of Impeachment: Overview], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224013533/https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI_S3_C7_1_1/ |date=24 February 2021 }}, Constitution Annotated.</ref> It was generally accepted that "a former President may be prosecuted for crimes of which he was acquitted by the Senate,"<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/file/19386/download "Memorandum: Whether a Former President May Be Indicted and Tried for the Same Offenses for Which He was Impeached by the House and Acquitted by the Senate"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211035941/https://www.justice.gov/file/19386/download |date=11 February 2021 }}, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel (18 August 2000).</ref> though that standard has been challenged in [[Trump v. United States (2024)|a recent case]] which held that the president has immunity for all official acts.

As of 2018, the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] had impeached an official 22 times since 1789: four times for presidents, fifteen times for [[federal judge]]s, twice for a Cabinet secretary, and once for a US senator.<ref name="U.S. Senate: Impeachment">{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/impeachment/impeachment-list.htm|title=U.S. Senate: Impeachment|website=www.senate.gov|access-date=19 September 2018|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318005651/https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/impeachment/impeachment-list.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Of the 22, the Senate voted to remove 8 officials impeached by the House of Representatives (all federal judges) from office.<ref name="U.S. Senate: Impeachment"/> The four impeachment trials in the Senate of presidents were: [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|Andrew Johnson in 1868]], [[Impeachment of Bill Clinton|Bill Clinton in 1998]], and [[First impeachment of Donald Trump|Donald Trump in 2019]] and [[Second impeachment of Donald Trump|again in 2021]].<ref>{{Cite news|author=Maggie Astor|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/which-presidents-have-been-impeached.html|title=The Impeachment Proceedings That Came Before|newspaper=The New York Times|date=13 January 2021|access-date=4 March 2021|archive-date=7 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307041923/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/which-presidents-have-been-impeached.html|url-status=live}}</ref> All four impeachments were followed by acquittal in the Senate.<ref name="U.S. Senate: Impeachment"/> An [[Impeachment process against Richard Nixon|impeachment process was also commenced against Richard Nixon]], but [[Richard Nixon's resignation speech|he resigned]] in 1974 to avoid an impeachment vote.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis|last=Gerhardt |first=Michael J. |publisher=University of Chicago Press|date= 2000|isbn=9780226289571|url=https://archive.org/details/federalimpeachme00gerh|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/federalimpeachme00gerh/page/27 27]|quote=attempted Impeachment of William O. Douglas.}}</ref>

Almost all [[State constitution (United States)|state constitutions]] set forth parallel impeachment procedures for [[state governments in the United States|state governments]], allowing the [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]] to impeach officials of the state government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://knowledgecenter.csg.org/content/impeachment-and-states-look-history-provisions-place?nopaging=1|title=Impeachment and the states: A look at the history, provisions in place|website=knowledgecenter.csg.org}}{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> From 1789 through 2008, 14 [[Governor (United States)|governors]] have been impeached (including two who were impeached twice), of whom seven governors were convicted.<ref>[https://www.ilga.gov/commission/lru/24.U.S.GovImpeachments.pdf "Research Response: Governors' Impeachments in U.S. History"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219175627/https://www.ilga.gov/commission/lru/24.U.S.GovImpeachments.pdf |date=19 February 2021 }}, Illinois General Assembly Legislative Research Unit (8 July 2008).</ref>