The Impeachment Process Begins in the House of Representatives (Essay Sample)

The Impeachment Process Begins in the House of Representatives
Though rare, there are circumstances where the United States president can be lawfully removed from power. The United States Constitution accords Congress the power to impeach and remove the president from office when they commit acts such as "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" (Barker, 2018). According to Trautman (2018), the process of impeachment is governed by Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, and it is the responsibility of the House of Representatives to impeach the president. The constitution also accords the Senate authority to try impeachments (Trautman, 2018). Once the president is impeached, he is then tried by the Senate. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the Senate to find the president guilty and force him to leave his position (Barker, 2018).
The impeachment process begins in the House of Representatives with the introduction of articles of impeachment by the House Judiciary Committee (Barker, 2018). At this phase, a formal accusation, or charge, is brought by the House of Representatives in the form of articles of impeachment (Trautman, 2018). The full House then votes on the articles of impeachment. This vote is purely symbolic and does not necessarily mean that the president will be found guilty (Barker, 2018).