Impeachment

What is impeachment, exactly?




According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to impeach means...

the action of calling into question the integrity or validity of something.

"the prosecutor's detailed impeachment of the character witness"

• 
  

  BRITISH
  a charge of treason or another crime against the state.
  "the king cynically abandoned him, encouraging his impeachment"
• 
  

  US
  a charge of misconduct made against the holder of a public office.
  "the president is facing impeachment over the scandal" · "all impeachments shall be tried by the Senate"--

'Impeach' can also be considered the same as 'indict (prounounced in-Dite).' That means to accuse or charge someone of a serious crime.


Where in the Constitution does it address impeachment?
-Article 2, Section 2, Clause #5. "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." https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/100/standards-for-impeachment
  
Impeachment is the process, not the result. Presidents have been impeached before, but none were removed from office:

• In the case of the first president to have impeachment attempted, John Tyler, the effort failed because in the midst of the process, the House changed majorities. https://potus-geeks.livejournal.com/315466.html
• Andrew Johnson (he was president after Abraham Lincoln) was impeached but was acquitted by one vote.
• Richard Nixon was in the process of being impeached, and resigned.
• Bill Clinton was impeached, and the effort failed. He was also re-elected for a 2nd term.
• Read why these people had impeachment proceedings against them: https://www.thoughtco.com/high-crimes-and-misdemeanors-definition-4140196

What are considered grounds for impeachment? What are 'high crimes and misdemeanors"?
According to constitutional lawyers, "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" are (1) real criminality—breaking a law; (2) abuses of power; (3) "violation of public trust" as defined by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers. In 1970, then-Representative Gerald R. Ford defined impeachable offenses as "whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history."
Crimes considered to be impeachable offenses:

• Exceeding the constitutional bounds of the powers of the office.
• Behavior grossly incompatible with the proper function and purpose of the office.
• Employing the power of the office for an improper purpose or for personal gain.

Treason includes aiding our enemies. Perjury is lying.

What does 'quid pro quo' mean? When we hear news about a conversation between the president and that of another country, where our president asked the leader of another country to provide incriminating facts about a political opponent, we have often heard the term 'quid pro quo.' That's a term in Latin which means literally 'something for something', basically, you do me a favor and I'll do you one in return. In this case, the allegation is that funding to the other country was put on hold or withdrawn pending the leader's providing the information our president sought. In essence, the president was asking another government to tamper with our elections while withholding money until it happened. Here is what the law says about doing that:

Federal law prohibits a foreign national from directly or indirectly making a “contribution or donation of money or other thing of value” in connection with a U.S. election, and prohibits a person from soliciting, accepting or receiving such a contribution or donation from a foreign national. Federal law defines “contribution” to include “any gift … of money or anything of value made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office.” And the FEC by regulation defines “solicit” to mean “to ask, request, or recommend, explicitly or implicitly, that another person make a contribution, donation, transfer of funds, or otherwise provide anything of value.”

What are the steps involved in impeachment? It begins in the House of Representatives.

• 1. The members of the House of Representatives raise the proposal that the president has acted in a way that demonstrates treason, bribery, or other "High crimes and misdemeanors(See above)." This phrase is thought to be deliberately vague and open to interpretation, to include many dishonest or illegal acts by a president.
• 2. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee calls for a formal inquiry.
• 3. The members of the Committee look into the alleged crimes
• 4. After gathering and examining evidence of the crimes, the full House, all 435 members, debate and vote about whether the crimes are enough to possibly remove the president from office.
• 5. If the majority of the House votes in favor of impeachment, the articles are sent to the Senate. This is a 'simple majority,' or 218 votes.

When the articles of impeachment are sent to the Senate, this is what they do:

• 6. They receive the articles of impeachment from the House.
• 7. They determine the rules for the trial
• 8. They hold a trial
• 9. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial.
• 10. They meet in private to determine a verdict
• 11. They then vote to remove the president from office or not.
• 12. If 2/3 of the Senate votes to remove the president (67 votes out of 100), then it becomes official. A simple majority is not enough in this case; 2/3 is required. That is referred to a s 'super-majority.'.

Here is the process in the form of a table:

How long does all of this take? Gathering evidence to support an impeachment can take many months, although the actual trial may not last more than 2 or 3 months. For Nixon, the investigation took a little over 2 years. In his case, he was charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, and of using the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies illegally.  Articles of Impeachment against him were filed  in July 1974, and he resigned less than a month after that. With Clinton, who was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, the process began in December 1998 and was completed, with a vote that did not find for removal, in February 1999.


If an impeachment results in removing the person from office, it still does not in itself provide for any type of criminal punishment such as fines or imprisonment. However, the person may be tried separately for crimes both on a state and federal level. An impeached person who is found guilty and removed, will not be able to run for public office from then on.

Here is an excellent explanation of how impeachment works: https://www.thoughtco.com/impeachment-the-unthinkable-process-3322171


And this specific situation: https://www.businessinsider.com/laws-trump-could-have-broken-ukraine-whistleblower-case-2019-9

Changes: New(er) Faces in Washington

The 2018 midterm elections are over, with a lot of interesting results. Some of the races still do not have a confirmed winner because voting was so close. Some facts:
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/2018-midterm-elections-results-polls-us-races-live-updates-today-2018-11-06/

There were some remarkable winners among women, women of color, and other minorities gaining office: the youngest woman elected at age 29, 2 Muslim women elected, 2 Native American women elected, and a number of first women governors, some of them also minorities, in several states.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/06/election-results-2018-women-minority-candidates-history-firsts/1912048002/
After this week's election, there will be some changes in our local, state, and national government. Let's brush up on who does what at the federal level:

What is the President's Cabinet?
It is a group of people who head up different departments and advise the president as to the status of those departments. But, did you know that in theory, these department heads could take over (succeed) if the president and others were removed or died in office? Below you see all the different department heads, and the order in which they could possibly become president.

What is the order of presidential succession?

The Cabinet is crucial to the presidential line of succession that determines the order in which officials succeed to the presidency following the death or resignation of the President. The Vice President tops the order, followed by the Speaker of the House, then the President pro tempore of the Senate. The Cabinet officers succeed to the presidency in the following order: (from https://www.dummies.com/education/politics-government/what-is-the-presidents-cabinet/)

• Secretary of State, Department of State
• Secretary of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury
• Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense
• Attorney General, Department of Justice
• Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior
• Secretary of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture
• Secretary of Commerce, Department of Commerce
• Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor
• Secretary of Health & Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services
• Secretary of Housing & Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation
• Secretary of Energy, Department of Energy
• Secretary of Education, Department of Education
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Secretary of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security

The House of Representatives now has a Democrat majority, so the Speaker of the House will change to a Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, who was Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011. She is a representative from California (San Francisco) and, by the way, she was the first woman Speaker of the House. Here is the role the Speaker plays:

The Speaker of the House exercises duties as a Member of Congress, as presiding officer of the House of Representatives, and as leader of the majority political party in the House.
These responsibilities include voting on legislation, administrative duties such as maintaining order within the House chamber, and other tasks such as appointing special committees
                           -from Government For Dummies,


The day after the election, our Attorney General stepped down at the request of the president. There is an acting AG at present. What is the role of Attorney General?
The Attorney General of the United States is the main legal advisor to the federal government. This person provides legal advice to the various department heads, deals with litigation against the government, and also can be involved in death penalty court cases.

Here is an in-depth explanation from Free Dictionary/Legal
The attorney general is head of the u.s. justice department and chief law officer of the federal government. He or she represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the president and to other heads of executive departments as requested. In cases of exceptional gravity or special importance, the attorney general may appear in person before the U.S. Supreme Court to represent the interests of the government.
As head of the Justice Department, the attorney general is charged with enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, construing the laws under which other executive departments act, supervising federal penal institutions, and investigating violations of federal laws. The attorney general also supervises and directs the activities of the U.S. attorneys and u.s. marshals in the various judicial districts. (U.S. attorneys prosecute all offenses against the United States and prosecute or defend for the government all civil actions, suits, or proceedings in which the United States is concerned; U.S. marshals execute all lawful writs, processes, and orders issued under authority of the United States.) The Attorney General, then, represents the government, and is not the President's personal legal counsel.

The branches of government and what they do, the concept of the Constitution, the first 10 Amendments:

https://www.dummies.com/education/politics-government/u-s-constitution-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/ 

It's our government. We need to know how it runs and who does what.

Air Force One

When you see the President of the United States in an airplane, it's Air Force One.  This name was first coined by Dwight Eisenhower, but the planes presidents have flown in have gotten much more sophisticated as air travel has advanced.

 

The aircraft is actually two Boeing 747-200B models, each equipped similarly. One's tail number is 28000 and one is 29000.

 

Did you know these things about Air Force One?

• It has 4000 square feet of space
• There are three levels to the aircraft, as there are in any Boeing 747. Passengers, including members of the press, generally travel in the middle section, which looks like a typical airplane seating section.
• The President has his own room, bathroom, and workout room
• There is a large conference room that also serves as the dining room
• It holds 70 passengers and 26 crew

                                 An early Air Force 1 not in use any longer

• The President always has a doctor that travels with him. The plane has a medical office ready for almost any medical crisis, including the ability to convert to a surgery suite if necessary
• Air Force One has its own exclusive baggage handlers
• Food purchased for Air Force one is purchased at out of the way grocers and different places every time, by Secret Service agents; this avoids tampering with the President's food
• The plane is clad in heavy shielding that preserves it from a nuclear blast

• This plane can be re-fueled in mid-air, and so can stay airborne for an indefinite time.
• Before Air Force One travels anywhere, the Air Force sends one or more C141 Starlifter cargo planes ahead which carry the motorcade: cars, limos, vans, that will be used in the President's trip.
• The President's helicopter is named Marine One. It is usually used to transport the President to Air Force One (the helicopter can land on the White House grounds, while the jet cannot.) If he is leaving from Washington, D.C., the plane typically takes off from Andrews Air Force Base.

 Here is a pretty thorough tour of Air Force One. It was made during President Bush's administration and shows everything from the galley (kitchen) to the pilot's seat.

http://www.wimp.com/inside-air-force-one/

 

Try a quiz to see what you remember: http://people.howstuffworks.com/air-force-one-quiz.htm

Current Air Force One

And a video of Air Force One landing:   http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=air+force+one+landing+&&view=detail&mid=64CB5B78B6B802A9A60564CB5B78B6B802A9A605&FORM=VRDGAR

How Much Power Does The President Have?

With the election coming up soon (Tuesday, November 8!!) we got to wondering: No matter who wins the election, how much power does the President of the United States actually have??

 

There are three branches of government in the U.S.: Executive (the President), Legislative (Congress and Senate) and Judicial (U.S. Supreme Court). In theory, at least, these three are supposed to cooperate to pass laws. In reality, there is a lot of negotiating, stalemates, and disagreements occurring between Congress, Senate, and the President. When the legislative part is run by one political party but the President belongs to another, this frequently causes problems.

President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act. The President uses several pens to sign these bills and then hands them off to people as souvenirs that they were present at the signing.

According to the United States Constitution, the President can:

 

• Suggest legislation to Congress, although Congress still has to pass it into law
• Sign or veto bills if 2/3 of the members of Congress agree
• Make treaties with other countries
• Grant reprieves or pardons
• Appoint ambassadors
• Appoint cabinet members
• Appoint Justices of the Supreme Court
• Fill vacancies in the Senate if it is in recess, without an election
• Nominate a new Vice President if that position is vacated, without an election

More in-depth explanations can be found here:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/powers-president

The President is the Commander in Chief of all the Armed Forces in our country. This means he or she, even though a civilian, is in charge of all branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. There are chief advisors for each branch that confer with the President to keep him or her informed of any military actions. The President does not have the power to declare war, only Congress can do that.

A further explanation of "Commander in Chief" is here: http://work.chron.com/duties-commander-chief-16065.html

The President can be removed from office (the procedure is called impeachment) by an Act of Congress if he or she is suspected of:

• Treason-Treason is doing something that betrays your country, such as trying to overturn a ruler or take the ruler's life
• Bribery-Bribery is paying someone for his/her silence when you have done something wrong or illegal
• Other high crimes and misdemeanors-this 'catchall' phrase would include the types of things done by Richard Nixon when he was in office: lying about things he ordered to be done, to spy on the Democratic Party, for starters.  Read about his impeachment here: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments/nixon.htm
• Presidents William Clinton and Andrew Johnson were also impeached, but unsuccessfully, so they completed their terms in office. President Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached.

What does the Vice President do, you may ask?? One duty of the Vice President is to preside over the Senate when it meets. The Vice President does have the power to vote only in cases where the Senate is tied in their votes.


The main job of the Vice President is to be available should something happen to the president; that is, the President dies, becomes unable to fulfill the duties of that office, or is removed from office. At that point, the Vice President steps in and becomes President. This has happened 8 times in our history. On 13 occasions, a Vice President has gone on to become elected as President.

While the President of the U.S. enjoys lots of perks, he or she does not actually hold a lot of power. That was the agreement when the country's Constitution was written.

 Air Force One is the President's jet. It is specially equipped for safety and is always 'on call' for use.

 So as far as power is concerned, the President is somewhat limited. He or she does, however, represent the whole country to the rest of the world, and has the responsibility of diplomacy, tact, and wisdom in dealing with other nations. He or she will travel extensively and will receive visitors from many countries during his or her time in office. The way the President conducts himself or herself is the way the rest of the world views us.