Democrat congressmen push to impeach Trump: What to know about the process

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By Kaitlyn Schallhorn

The House is able to vote to impeach even if the committee does not recommend doing so.

Should that vote be reached, then the House will appoint members – called managers – to act as “prosecutors” as the proceedings will then go to trial in the Senate. The president is able to have defense attorneys.

The Senate would need a two-thirds majority in order to find the president guilty. Should that happen, the president would be removed from office and the vice president would take the presidents place.

Have other presidents been impeached?

Only two U.S. presidents have been impeached – and neither were removed from office.

Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998.

While an impeachment proceeding began against former President Richard Nixon, he was not actually impeached. Nixon was the only president to resign from office.

What do the Democrats have to say?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has publicly opposed impeachment calls. Most Democratic lawmakers have also stayed away from Green’s efforts.

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But six Democrats came together on Nov. 15 to introduce five articles of impeachment against Trump. Aside from Green, they are: Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Adriano Espaillat of New York, Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.

Reps. Luis Gutierrez, Al Green, Steve Cohen and Adriano Espaillat speak at a press conference announcing articles of impeachment being filed against President Trump.  (Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein)

“We have taken this action because of great concerns for the country and our Constitution and our national security and our democracy,” Cohen said.

Cohen also said he understood the unlikeliness that the cohort’s efforts will be successful but said they would nonetheless hold briefings on the impeachment articles.

Aside from obstruction of justice, the congressmen allege that Trump accepted emoluments from foreign states and from the U.S. government without congressional approval. They also say he has undermined the federal judiciary as well as the freedom of the press.