How The Senate Deals With Impeachment

it could be hard to remember given the speed with which news is made and unmade these days, however we’re currently watching history play out in real-time at the White Home. President Donald Trump is just the fourth president in the past of the United States to face serious impeachment proceedings, following in the footsteps of former Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. (None of those were removed from office for impeachment: Nixon stepped down before a vote could take place and Johnson and Clinton were both impeached by the Home and acquitted by the Senate.) And once it comes to Trump, all bets are off with regard to how the next couple of months will play out.


Each impeachment inquiry is unique, like a snowflake. With the Trump administration refusing to abide by the Home of Representatives’ current investigation, it isn’t going to be easy for impeachment to create its way through Congress. Nevertheless if it does, the much-anticipated impeachment inquiry could make its way into the hallowed halls of the Senate. You may already know the broad strokes of what that shows, however let’s take a closer look at what our future may hold.


Here’s what we do know: Impeachment proceedings have to go by means of the Residence of Representatives and the Senate. In the residence, impeachment is, well, a disaster. The procedure is elaborate and convoluted and the Constitution doesn’t clear things up or tell members of Congress how to go about the thing. Because of that, we just be leaving on the historical context of Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton pretty heavily. Thankfully, it’s a little clearer in the Senate than it is in the House.


So let’s take things one step at a time, with a loose guide on how a presidents impeachment plays out in the Senate:


Step 1: Get To Know The Senate’s Role In The Impeachment Inquiry


If the impeachment conversation reaches the Senate, an official has already technically been impeached. Given that the definition of impeachment is a “charge of misconduct,” being impeached means that the Residence of Representatives has already brought those same expenses of misconduct against a given person. In this case? It’s the President, though Senators, judges, and even Secretaries of War have all been impeached in the past.


The “High Court of Impeachment,” according to the Senate’s official website, decides whether or not a president is removed from office; group in attempt to do that, they conduct a trial.


“The constitution says the Home impeaches and the Senate renders a decision,” Jody Baumgartner, the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of political science at East Carolina University, told MTV News. “The Senate is simply making the decision [of] because the result of this president having been impeached, should he be removed from office? That's it.”


Step 2: Get Ruled


Senators have to adopt a set of rules governing the process; failure to do so runs the risk that it may just… literally never end. So your elected officials lay some groundwork: How long the trial will run, what evidence is permissible and which witnesses are allowed. Throughout former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle crafted a bipartisan agreement on how to run the trail. According to a Los Angeles Times article from 1999, those rules included allowing depositions from witnesses and making the trial accessible to the public by means of the broadcasts and videotaped testimony. Primetime, baby!


Step 3: A Detour! Could The Senate Vote To Dismiss The Charges?


This isn’t a required step, however it’s one that could happen: Soon considering that, Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell did tell CNBC that although he would have “no choice” although to take up the impeachment proceedings, “how long you are on it is a different matter.”


Basically, McConnell could put something up to vote that the Senate not hear a trial, and, alternatively, dismiss the costs altogether. Former senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) attempted this throughout Clinton’s impeachment proceedings, nevertheless the then-Republican-controlled Senate voted to 56-to-44 to continue to trial, according to the Washington Post.


This time around, although, there’s a chance such a tactic could succeed, since McConnell would only require a generic majority to vote in favor of dismissal, and he effectively controls the Senate. (Of the 100 Senators, 53 are Republican, 45 are Democrat and two are Independent). If that vote to dismiss passes, the president remains in office despite being technically impeached by the Home of Representatives. If it fails, or if the Senate decides not to hold a vote to dismiss the bills, the Senate holds a trial.


Step 4: The Senate Holds A Trial


In any trial, there really is defense as well as a prosecution. Here, the defense of the president could be his own defense lawyers — it’s unclear if that includes his personalized lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who is a big player in the Ukraine inquiry as well as a noted fan of giant-sized texts. Members of the Home Judiciary Committee would serve as prosecutors. It isn’t nevertheless clear who of the 41 members, comprised of 17 Republicans and 24 Democrats, could be players.


Step 5: A Senate Vote


Right following the trial, each person in the Senate votes on if they should convict the president. Two-thirds, or 67 of 100 senators, would have to vote in favor of the president to be convicted and removed from office. That demonstrates 20 Republican senators would have to join almost every one of the Democrats and two Independents. If fewer than two-thirds of the members present vote to convict them, the president will remain in office — which is what happened to former President Bill Clinton. The Senate voted to acquit him on costs of perjury on a 45-55 vote and of obstruction of justice on a 50-50 vote, according to a 1999 CNN article.


No matter how it plays out, this impeachment is likely to affect the President’s chance at reelection in 2020. Soon considering that, more than half of U.S. Voters want him impeached and removed from office — and that’s according to a Fox News poll.