College Voices
Is Impeachment Coming Any Day Now?
There’s been a whole lot of talk lately about impeachment. With Senate hearing after Senate hearing, FBI leak after FBI leak, it seems like we’re a whole lot closer to getting answers than just a few weeks ago. As pundits throw around the word impeachment with much less modesty, how close are we really to seeing President Trump removed from office?
Please RT if you agree the cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment, TODAY, and immediately remove @realDonaldTrump from the presidency.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 2, 2017
Of course, impeachment, and then removal from office, is no guarantee. As of today, no President has ever been removed from office through the process of impeachment and conviction.
Some have certainly gotten close– both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were successfully impeached by the House of Representatives, only to be acquitted by the senate.
But how does this process work? Basically, there are two steps. Impeachment starts in the house, where if the majority votes positively, select house members are nominated to act as prosecutors during the following trial. Then the trial moves to the Senate, where ⅔ of the body most vote for impeachment in order to convict.
However, after the 2016 election, Republicans control both the house and the senate. Currently, Republicans hold 240 seats in the House as opposed to the 194 held by Democrats. Additionally, last November’s election saw Republicans holding onto a 2 seat majority in the senate.
This clearly poses an issue for the possibility of impeachment, as Republicans are much less likely to back the removal from office of a president from their own party. The 2018 election will likely dictate the probability of impeachment, depending on the performance of Democrats in both house and senate races.
Yet many Democrats are currently gearing up to fight, as rumblings of impeachment have occurred in both halves of congress.
Directly after President Trump’s firing of James Comey, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said that Trump’s actions “may well produce impeachment proceedings, although we’re very far from that possibility.”
Rep. Maxine Waters echoed a similar sentiment, declaring that she will “fight every day until he is impeached.”
Are you allowed to impeach a president for gross incompetence?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2014
Is impeachment likely? Perhaps. But we are certainly a long way away. Until then, those who wish to see the president removed from office better start gearing up for 2018.
By : Lucinda Ellman
