Impeachment explainer

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (2024)

House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a 214–213 vote on February 13, 2024. Mayorkas was impeached on two articles: “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law,” specifically immigration law, which contributed to the “border catastrophe,” according to House Republicans, and “breach of public trust” for not “faithfully discharging” his duties. [23]

The House of Representatives was scheduled to deliver the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas to the U.S. Senate on April 10, 2024, but it delayed the delivery to April 16 due to concerns the Senate would not commit to a trial. On April 17, 2024, the Senate voted 51–48 (with an additional “present” vote) along party lines to dismiss the first article of impeachment because a majority believed it did not meet the constitutional requirement of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” A 51–49 vote dismissed the second article along party lines on the same grounds. The dismissal marks the first time the Senate did not hold a trial for articles of impeachment brought by the House. [24] [25] [26]

U.S. Secretary of War William Worth Belknap (1876)

As secretary of war under Pres. Ulysses S. Grant, Belknap was accused of taking bribes. As Britannica editors explain:

On March 2, 1876, Belknap abruptly resigned his cabinet position amid rumors of misconduct. Observers had noted that Belknap, who received a relatively modest government salary, hosted lavish parties that were impressive even by the standards of the Gilded Age. After his resignation, the U.S. House of Representatives began impeachment proceedings against Belknap for allegedly operating a kickback scheme at Fort Sill, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Belknap was accused of granting Caleb Marsh, a New York businessman, and an associate the exclusive right to operate a trading post at Fort Sill in exchange for quarterly payments. [32]

In a unanimous vote, the House impeached Belknap on five articles of impeachment, accusing him of “criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War, and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain.” Belknap protested that he could not be tried in the Senate because he had already resigned his office. The Senate debated jurisdiction to try Belknap on the charges and then went ahead with a trial. While a majority (37 of 62 senators) voted to convict on all five charges, Belknap was acquitted because the vote was just short of the required two-thirds majority. Of the 25 senators who voted to acquit, 23 did so because they believed the Senate no longer had the jurisdiction to punish Belknap, not that they believed he was innocent of the charges. [32]

President Donald Trump (2019 and 2021)

Pres. Donald Trump is the only U.S. official to be impeached twice.

Trump was impeached for the first time on December 18, 2019. The articles of impeachment charged “abuse of power” for soliciting Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 presidential election to Trump’s advantage and “obstruction of Congress” for defying subpoenas issued by Congress. Trump’s January 16–February 5, 2020, first impeachment trial resulted in acquittal by the Senate. Votes on both articles were along party lines, though Mitt Romney (R-UT) voted to convict on Article I (“abuse of power”) and acquit on Article II (“obstruction of Congress”). [6] [15]

Trump was impeached for a second time on January 13, 2021—one week before he left office in his first term—and was impeached on one article: “incitement of insurrection” for the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in which, according to Britannica editor Brian Duignan, “a mob unlawfully breached the Capitol, injured law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress and the Vice Pres., interfered with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify election results, and engaged in violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.” Trump’s February 9–13, 2021, second impeachment trial resulted in a second acquittal by the Senate. The vote was again mostly along party lines, though seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [30]

President Bill Clinton (1998)

Pres. Bill Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998, for two articles: lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstruction of justice. The charges related to whether Clinton coerced Monica Lewinsky, then a 24-year-old White House intern, to state falsely under oath that she and Clinton had not had an affair. [33]

Britannica editors explain:

The details of the relationship [between Clinton and Lewinsky] were first made public in January 1998 by the Drudge Report. Clinton repeatedly and publicly denied that the affair had taken place. His compelled testimony, which appeared evasive and disingenuous even to Clinton’s supporters (he responded to one question by stating, “It depends on what the meaning of the word is is”), prompted renewed criticism of Clinton’s character from conservatives and liberals alike. After conclusive evidence of the affair came to light, Clinton apologized to his family and to the American public. [33]

Nonetheless, Clinton was acquitted of the charges by the Senate at the conclusion of the January 7–February 12, 1999, trial. [33]

President Andrew Johnson (1868)

Pres. Andrew Johnson was impeached on February 24, 1868. The impeachment was the result of an extended conflict with Congress, which passed Restoration policies (including the Freedmen’s Bureau bill extension, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the first of the Reconstruction Acts) after the Civil War despite Johnson’s vetoes and objections. The Tenure of Office Act was passed the same day as the Reconstruction Act, and gave Congress means to act against Johnson. [34] [35]

The Tenure of Office Act, according to Britannica Editors, “forbade the chief executive from removing without the Senate’s concurrence certain federal officers whose appointments had originally been made by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.” Nonetheless, Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton—a staunch opponent of Johnson—on February 21, 1868 (after having suspended Stanton on August 12 the year before), to test the constitutionality of the new law. [34] [35] [36]

The next day, the House of Representatives responded with 11 articles of impeachment, most of which focused on Johnson’s violation of the Tenure of Office Act, though Britannica Editors note that the president was also accused of bringing “into disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and reproach the Congress of the United States.” On February 24, the House voted 126 to 47 to impeach Johnson of high crimes and misdemeanors and referred the matter to the Senate for trial. Johnson was acquitted on May 26 in the Senate, after votes fell just one short of the required two-thirds majority. [34] [35]