A Vermont law professor explains the impeachment process and what the U.S. Constitution says about the proceedings.
Assistant law professor at Vermont Law School Jared Carter says a president can be impeached for committing bribery or treason, which the U.S. Constitution states as a “high crime or misdemeanor.” But losing the American people’s trust is also grounds for impeachment.
“Alexander Hamilton, in one of the Federalist Papers, talked about the fact that presidents can be impeached for a violation of public trust. So the House of Representatives is looking at that,” Carter told WCAX News.
Carter says impeachment is a complex process. First, the House of Representatives collects evidence and brings in witnesses to testify. Then, they vote on the Articles of Impeachment. Ultimately, the Senate has the final say, with a two-thirds majority vote needed.
“So you’re talking about more than 60 senators needing to vote to remove and we’ve never removed a president from office in this process in the history of the United States,” Carter said.
The Constitution calls on the Supreme Court Chief Justice to preside over the trial. Carter says that’s unlikely to ensure impartiality of the proceedings.
“I think that’s an important point. Yes, a president can be impeached for a breach of the public trust but by bringing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in, I think the goal of the founders was to depoliticize as much as possible the process,” Carter said. “But it’s a political process, let’s be honest. There’s no way around that. When you have elected representatives voting to remove a sitting president, that’s politics.”
Carter predicts the Democratic-controlled House will vote on the Articles of Impeachment in the next few months. But he’s not convinced the GOP-controlled Senate will vote to remove a Republican president from office.
“Unless some major new shoe drops, at least based on what the Republicans in the Senate are saying now, it’s very unlikely the president’s going to be removed before the election,” he said.
WCAX News asked Vermonters if they think President Trump should be impeached. We heard from both sides.
“It’s been a long time coming and it’s definitely worth looking into,” said Independent Sarah Carter. “The few times that a president has been impeached in history– President Johnson, President Clinton– they have been for lesser things.”
Source: https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Vermont-law-professor-adds-context-to-impeachment–565050582.html
