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Impeachment of Donald Trump, 2021

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On February 13, 2021, former President Donald Trump (R) was acquitted of incitement of insurrection. Fifty-seven senators voted to convict and 43 voted to acquit. Conviction requires a two-thirds vote of senators present.[1]

On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump by a vote of 232-197 for incitement of insurrection. The resolution followed the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, which disrupted a joint session of Congress convened to count the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. Ten Republicans supported the impeachment.[2][3]

The resolution alleged that Trump attempted to subvert and obstruct the certification of the election results and incited a crowd to breach the Capitol, leading to vandalism, threats to members of the government and congressional personnel, the death of law enforcement, and other seditious acts.[2] Click here to read the resolution.

On January 12, 2021, Trump called the impeachment resolution the "continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics." He added, "For Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to continue on this path, I think it's causing tremendous danger to our country and it's causing tremendous anger."[4]

Pelosi said the House would deliver the article of impeachment to the U.S. Senate on January 25, 2021.[5] Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said the trial was scheduled to begin the week of February 8, 2021.[6]

On January 25, 2021, House impeachment managers delivered the article of impeachment to the U.S. Senate.[7] Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the president pro tempore of the Senate, presided over the trial.[8]

This was the first time in U.S. history that a president has been impeached twice. Trump was previously impeached and acquitted of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges in 2020.

This page contains an overview of the following topics:

Updates

  • February 13, 2021: The Senate voted to acquit Trump of incitement of insurrection by a vote of 57-43.[1]
  • February 9, 2021: The Senate trial began with the House impeachment managers and the president's attorneys debating the constitutionality of the trial. The Senate upheld the constitutionality of the trial by a vote of 56-44.
  • February 4, 2021: Trump declined a request from the House impeachment managers to testify at the Senate trial.[9]
  • January 31, 2021: Trump announced that he had hired David Schoen and Bruce Castor to represent him during the impeachment trial, replacing five previously announced members of his legal team.[10]
  • January 26, 2021: Senators were sworn in for the impeachment trial.[11]
  • January 25, 2021: The House delivered the article of impeachment to the U.S. Senate.[7]
  • January 22, 2021: Pelosi said the House would deliver the article of impeachment to the U.S. Senate on January 25, 2021.[5] Schumer said the trial was scheduled to begin the week of February 8.[6]
  • January 21, 2021: Trump hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers to represent him in the impeachment trial.[12]
  • January 13, 2021: The House voted to impeach Trump by a vote of 232-197. Ten Republicans supported the impeachment resolution.[13]

Overview of impeachment process

See also: Impeachment of federal officials

The United States Congress has the constitutional authority to impeach and remove a federal official from office—including the president—if he or she has committed an impeachable offense. Impeaching and removing an official has two stages. First, articles of impeachment against the official must be passed by a majority vote of the U.S. House of Representatives. Then, a trial is conducted in the United States Senate potentially leading to the conviction and removal of the official.[14]

In most impeachment trials, the vice president presides over the trial. However, in impeachment trials of the president, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides. In order to remove the person from office, two-thirds of senators that are present to vote must vote to convict on the articles of impeachment.[14]

Process for impeachment and conviction

The following two charts show the process for impeachment, which begins in the U.S. House with the introduction of an impeachment resolution and a committee inquiry conducted by the United States House Committee on the Judiciary. If the committee adopts articles of impeachment against the official, the articles will go to a full floor vote in the U.S. House.

Congress Impeachment - US House.png


When articles of impeachment are adopted by the U.S. House, the process moves to the U.S. Senate where senators will either acquit or convict the official following a trial.

Congress Impeachment - US Senate.png

Trial in U.S. Senate

Trial timeline

This list provides a timeline of the trial proceedings, a link to a recording of each session, and brief summary of the session's activity.

  • February 13, 2021: Senators voted to acquit Trump of incitement of insurrection by a vote of 57-43.
  • February 12, 2021: Trump's defense team delivered arguments. Senators asked questions of the defense team and House impeachment managers.
  • February 11, 2021: The House impeachment managers finished delivering arguments in the trial.
  • February 10, 2021: The House impeachment managers delivered opening arguments in the trial.
  • February 9, 2021: The House impeachment managers and the president's attorneys debated the constitutionality of the trial. The Senate upheld the constitutionality of the trial by a vote of 56-44.

Impeachment managers

On January 12, 2021, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named nine impeachment managers, who are responsible for presenting the case for impeachment to the U.S. Senate:[15]

Trump's defense attorneys

Trump announced on January 31, 2021, that he had hired David Schoen and Bruce Castor to represent him during the impeachment trial. Schoen previously represented Trump adviser Roger Stone, and Castor is a former district attorney from Pennsylvania.[10]

Trump initially hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers and four other attorneys to represent him. Bowers previously represented former South Carolina Govs. Mark Sanford (R) and Nikki Haley in separate ethics inquiries.[16] The other four attorneys were Deborah Barbier, Johnny Gasser, Greg Harris, and Joshua Howard. Barbier, Gasser, and Harris are former federal prosecutors.[17]

These five attorneys departed from the case due to a disagreement over strategy, ABC News reported on January 30, 2021.[18]

Vote to acquit (February 13, 2021)

The Senate voted to acquit Trump of incitement of insurrection on February 13, 2021. All 48 Democrats, the two independents who caucused with Democrats, and seven Republicans voted guilty. The other 43 Republicans voted not guilty.[1][19]

The seven Republicans to vote guilty were:

Vote on constitutionality of the trial (February 9, 2021)

The Senate upheld the constitutionality of the trial after hearing a debate on the subject on February 9, 2021. All Democrats and six Republicans supported the motion:[20]

Vote on motion challenging constitutionality of the trial (January 26, 2021)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) requested a vote on the constitutionality of the trial on January 26, 2021. The Senate voted to table that motion by 55-45. All Democrats and five Republicans voted down the motion:[21]

Relevant links

U.S. House vote on article of impeachment

On January 13, 2021, the House impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection by a vote of 232 to 197.

House debates and votes on article of impeachment against President Donald Trump, January 13, 2021

Article of impeachment

The following document contains the text of the article of impeachment.

Supporting materials prepared by the House Committee on the Judiciary

On January 12, 2021, the House Judiciary Committee Majority Staff prepared the following report providing background materials on the breach of the Capitol and the standards and argument for impeachment.

Constitutionality of Senate trial of former president

The question of whether the Senate can hold a trial for and convict a former president is unsettled. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides:[22]

“ 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.[23] ”
—Article II, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution

Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution, also states the following:

“ 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.[23] ”
—Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, of the U.S. Constitution


J. Michael Luttig, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 25 years, said that such a trial would be unconstitutional. He interpreted the language of Section 4 to refer to an official in office.[24]

Luttig said, "The very concept of constitutional impeachment presupposes the impeachment, conviction and removal of a president who is, at the time of his impeachment, an incumbent in the office from which he is removed. Indeed, that was the purpose of the impeachment power, to remove from office a president or other 'civil official' before he could further harm the nation from the office he then occupies."[24]

Laurence Tribe, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, said that the Senate had the constitutional authority to pursue proceedings against a former present. He said that Article I, Section 3, distinguishes between removal and disqualification. He said,

"To be sure, a former officer may no longer be 'removed' even upon conviction by a two-thirds vote. But that has no bearing on whether such an ex-officer may be barred permanently from office upon being convicted. That separate judgment would require no more than a simple majority vote," Tribe said. "Concluding otherwise would all but erase the disqualification power from the Constitution’s text: If an impeachable officer became immune from trial and conviction upon leaving office, any official seeing conviction as imminent could easily remove the prospect of disqualification simply by resigning moments before the Senate’s anticipated verdict."[25]

The Congressional Research Service said in a report on January 15, 2021, "Though the text is open to debate, it appears that most scholars who have closely examined the question have concluded that Congress has authority to extend the impeachment process to officials who are no longer in office."[26]

Click on one of the following links for additional arguments for and against the constitutionality of the trial:

Which presidents have been impeached?

See also: Impeachment of federal officials

This section provides a brief history of the impeachment of presidents. Of the other three presidents who have had articles of impeachment against them adopted, two were acquitted by the U.S. Senate and one resigned before the full U.S. House vote took place.

Andrew Johnson

On February 24, 1868, President Andrew Johnson (Union) became the first sitting president to be impeached. Following Congress' passage of the Tenure of Office Act forbidding the president from removing federal officials without the approval of Congress, Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant. Johnson hoped to challenge the constitutionality of the Act.

The House charged him with violating the Act and passed an impeachment resolution 126-47. Johnson was acquitted by the Senate on May 16, 1868, by a vote of 35-19, one vote short of two-thirds. Seven Republican senators broke ranks with the party to prevent Johnson's conviction.[27]

Richard Nixon

Three articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice, misuse of power, and contempt of Congress were approved by the House Judiciary Committee against President Richard Nixon (R) in July 1974. The charges followed Nixon's involvement in covering up the attempted burglary and wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Watergate two years earlier.

Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974, before the articles of impeachment went to a full floor vote in the House.[28]

Bill Clinton

President William Jefferson Clinton (D) was impeached by the U.S. House on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998. The first article of impeachment for perjury passed the House by a vote of 228-206, while the second vote on obstruction of justice passed by 221-212. The charges stemmed from an affair Clinton had with White House staffer Monica Lewinski. House Republicans accused Clinton of lying and having others lie to hide the affair. Two other charges, perjury in regards to an affair with Paula Jones and abuse of power, were rejected by the House.[29]

With 708 days remaining in his second term as president, the Senate acquitted Clinton on both charges brought up by the House on February 12, 1999. The perjury charge failed by a vote of 45-55 while the obstruction of justice charge failed on a tied vote of 50-50.[30]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The New York Times, "Live Senate Vote Results: Impeachment Charge Against Trump," February 13, 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Associated Press, "Republicans block measure calling for quick removal of Trump," January 11, 2021
  3. ↑ CNN, "House Democrats introduce impeachment resolution, charging Trump with 'incitement of insurrection,'" January 11, 2021
  4. ↑ NBC New York, "Latest Updates: Trump Calls Impeachment Push ‘Continuation of Greatest Witch Hunt,'" January 12, 2021
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Speaker of the House, "Pelosi Announces House Will Deliver Article of Impeachment to Senate on January 25," January 22, 2021
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 CBS News, "Trump's impeachment trial to begin week of February 8," January 23, 2021
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Politico, "Trump's second impeachment trial launches with questions over witnesses," January 25, 2021
  8. ↑ Sen. Patrick Leahy, "Comment On Presiding Over The Impeachment Trial Of President Donald Trump," January 25, 2021
  9. ↑ CNN, "Trump quickly rejects impeachment managers' request for testimony at impeachment trial," February 4, 2021
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The New York Times, "Trump Names Two Members of Impeachment Defense Team," January 31, 2021
  11. ↑ CNN, "Senators sworn in for Trump impeachment trial," January 26, 2021
  12. ↑ Forbes, "Reports: Trump Hires Attorney Butch Bowers After Struggling To Form Impeachment Defense Team," January 21, 2021
  13. ↑ CNN, "House impeaches Trump for role in deadly Capitol riot," January 13, 2021
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Congressional Research Service, "Impeachment and removal," October 29, 2015
  15. ↑ The Hill, "Pelosi names 9 impeachment managers," January 12, 2021
  16. ↑ The Post and Courier, "Butch Bowers, SC’s go-to GOP lawyer, seen as steady hand in Trump’s impeachment defense," January 22, 2021
  17. ↑ CNN, "Three new lawyers added to Trump’s impeachment defense, boosting team to five," January 29, 2021
  18. ↑ ABC News, "Donald Trump's entire legal team quits week before impeachment trial," January 30, 2021
  19. ↑ United States Senate, "Question: Guilty or Not Guilty (Article of Impeachment Against Former President Donald John Trump )," accessed February 15, 2021
  20. ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Motion (Is Former President Donald John Trump Subject to a Court of Impeachment for Acts Committed While President?)," February 9, 2021
  21. ↑ Vox, "A stunt from Rand Paul reveals limited Republican support for impeachment," January 26, 2021
  22. ↑ Constitution Center, "Article II: Executive Branch," accessed January 25, 2021
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 The Washington Post, "Once Trump leaves office, the Senate can’t hold an impeachment trial," January 12, 2021
  25. ↑ The Washington Post, "The Senate can constitutionally hold an impeachment trial after Trump leaves office," January 13, 2021
  26. ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The Impeachment and Trial of a Former President," January 15, 2021
  27. ↑ PBS, "The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson," accessed March 27, 2014
  28. ↑ History, "The Watergate Scandal: A Timeline," June 10, 2019
  29. ↑ New York Times, "IMPEACHMENT: THE OVERVIEW -- CLINTON IMPEACHED; HE FACES A SENATE TRIAL, 2D IN HISTORY; VOWS TO DO JOB TILL TERM'S 'LAST HOUR'," December 22, 1998
  30. ↑ Washington Post, "The Senate Acquits President Clinton," February 13, 1999
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