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US President Donald Trump impeached. What happens next | Explainer
President Donald Trump was impeached over the charges that he abused the power of his office by enlisting a foreign government to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election. In the second charge, he has been found guilty of obstructing Congress in its investigation.
Donald Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday night, making him only the third American President to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors.
The votes, split across party lines, were 230 for and 197 against impeachment on the first count (abuse of power), and 229-198 on the second count (obstruction of Congress).
Two other presidents have been impeached by the House – Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. Both were acquitted in Senate trials later.
Watch l Donald Trump impeached by US House of Representatives: What happens next?
Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before the impeachment process reached a House vote.
What happens now
1. The House will appoint lawmakers to play the role of prosecutors in the Senate trial – the next and final step of the impeachment process in which the Senate serves as the jury. The trial, expected to begin in January, will be presided over by US Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr.
2. The Senate will issue a writ of summons, to which the President or his counsel will respond, and the two sides will present their arguments in the trial, in which evidence is placed, and witnesses are subpoenaed and cross-examined, before closing arguments.
3. The Senate will hold a closed-door deliberation before voting on each of the articles of impeachment separately.
Unlikely to be removed from office
A Senate conviction requires a two-thirds majority on one or more articles of impeachment. This is unlikely to happen because it is made up of 53 Republicans and 43 Democrats. Given the sharp split in the House vote – where only a simple majority was needed – the gap is nearly impossible to bridge.
What’s happened so far
1. The impeachment process began on September 24, 2019, with House speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing a formal impeachment inquiry and launching an investigation.
2. On October 31, the House approved the rules laid out in the impeachment inquiry, opening the doors for public hearings first by the Intelligence Committee and then the Judiciary Committee.
3. The two articles of impeachment were formalised between December 11 and 13 – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
4. On December 18, after a marathon debate, the House voted “Yes” on both articles, forcing a Senate trial for only the third time in history.
