Impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, 2023-2024
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced on September 12, 2023, that the House of Representatives would pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden (D).[1] The inquiry focused on allegations that Biden used his influence as vice president from 2009 to 2017 to improperly profit from his son Hunter Biden's business dealings.[2]
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), McCarthy's successor, scheduled a vote for December 7 to formally approve the ongoing impeachment inquiry.[3] The resolution was approved 221-212, and directed the Oversight, Ways and Means, and Judiciary committees to continue their investigations and set forth additional authorities for the committees related to inquiry proceedings.[4] From January 2023 to May 2024, these committees conducted hearings investigating Biden. No impeachment charges were put up for a vote.[5]
In a September 13 briefing, White House Press Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Republicans in Congress "have spent all year investigating the President. That’s what they’ve spent all year doing, and have turned up with no evidence — none — that he did anything wrong. [...] That is what we’ve heard over and over again from their almost year-long investigation. And that’s because the President didn’t do anything wrong."[6]
On this page you will find:
- A timeline of proceedings
- An overview of the impeachment inquiry authorization and vote
- An overview of the impeachment process
- A summary of previous presidential impeachments
Timeline
- December 7, 2023: The U.S. House voted to formally authorize the ongoing impeachment inquiry. The resolution passed 221-212 along party lines.
- September 12, 2023: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced that the House of Representatives would pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden (D).
Impeachment inquiry authorization and vote
On December 7, 2023, Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) introduced H. Res. 918, a House resolution directing certain committees to continue their investigations and providing additional authorities to the committees related to the impeachment inquiry.
The House of Representatives passed the resolution by a vote of 221-212 on December 13, 2023. The vote ran along party lines. All Republican members of the House voted in support, and all but one Democratic member voted against the resolution. One Democrat, Rep. Bradley Schneider (D-Ill.) was absent and did not vote.[7]
Expand the section below to read the full text of the resolution.
Overview of impeachment process
- See also: Impeachment of federal officials
The United States Congress has the constitutional authority to impeach and remove a federal official from office—including the president—if he or she has committed an impeachable offense. Impeaching and removing an official has two stages. First, articles of impeachment against the official must be passed by a majority vote of the U.S. House of Representatives. Then, a trial is conducted in the United States Senate potentially leading to the conviction and removal of the official.[8]
In most impeachment trials, the vice president presides over the trial. However, in impeachment trials of the president, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides. In order to remove the person from office, two-thirds of senators that are present to vote must vote to convict on the articles of impeachment.[8]
Process for impeachment and conviction
The following two charts show the process for impeachment, which begins in the U.S. House with the introduction of an impeachment resolution and a committee inquiry conducted by the United States House Committee on the Judiciary. If the committee adopts articles of impeachment against the official, the articles will go to a full floor vote in the U.S. House.
When articles of impeachment are adopted by the U.S. House, the process moves to the U.S. Senate where senators will either acquit or convict the official following a trial.
Which presidents have been impeached?
Andrew Johnson
On February 24, 1868, President Andrew Johnson became the first sitting president to be impeached. Following Congress' passage of the Tenure of Office Act, forbidding the president from removing federal officials without the approval of Congress, Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant. Johnson hoped to challenge the constitutionality of the Act. The House charged him with violating the Act and passed an impeachment resolution 126-47. Johnson was acquitted by the Senate on May 16, 1868, by a vote of 35-19, one vote short of two-thirds. Seven Republican senators broke ranks with the party to prevent Johnson's conviction.[9]
Bill Clinton
President William Jefferson Clinton, the second president to be impeached, was charged by the U.S. House on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998. The first article of impeachment for perjury passed the House by a vote of 228-206, while the second vote on obstruction of justice passed by 221-212. The charges stemmed an affair Clinton had with White House staffer Monica Lewinski. House Republicans accused Clinton of lying and having others lie, hiding the affair. Two other charges, perjury in regards to an affair with Paula Jones and abuse of power, were rejected by the House.[10] With 708 days remaining in his second term as president, the Senate acquitted Clinton on both charges brought up by the House on February 12, 1999. The perjury charge failed by a vote of 45-55 while the obstruction of justice charge failed on a tied vote of 50-50.[11]
Donald Trump
- See also: Impeachment of Donald Trump
Donald Trump was the third president to be impeached. He was impeached first in 2019-2020 and a second time in 2021.
On December 18, 2019, the U.S. House charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The first article passed by a vote of 230-197 and the second 229-198. On February 5, 2020, the Senate acquitted him of abuse of power by a 52-48 vote and of obstruction of Congress by a 53-47 vote.
On January 13, 2021, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection related to the January 6 Capitol breach during electoral vote counting. On February 13, 2021—after Trump had left office as a result of the 2020 presidential election—the Senate acquitted Trump. A two-thirds vote was required to convict. Fifty-seven senators voted to convict, and 43 voted to acquit.
See also
- Impeachment of Donald Trump, 2021
- Impeachment of Donald Trump, 2019-2020
- Impeachment of federal officials
Footnotes
- ↑ Associated Press, "Speaker McCarthy directs the House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden," September 12, 2023
- ↑ Reuters, "What’s the basis of the Republicans’ Joe Biden impeachment inquiry?" December 13, 2023
- ↑ Politico, "Johnson almost certainly has votes to formalize Biden impeachment inquiry," December 12, 2023
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.Res.918 - Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes." accessed December 13, 2023
- ↑ GOP.gov, "Biden impeachment inquiry," accessed April 2, 2024
- ↑ White House, "Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Jared Bernstein, and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby," September 13, 2023
- ↑ C-SPAN, "U.S. House of Representatives," December 13, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Congressional Research Service, "Impeachment and removal," October 29, 2015
- ↑ PBS, "The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson," accessed March 27, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "IMPEACHMENT: THE OVERVIEW -- CLINTON IMPEACHED; HE FACES A SENATE TRIAL, 2D IN HISTORY; VOWS TO DO JOB TILL TERM'S 'LAST HOUR'," December 22, 1998
- ↑ Washington Post, "The Senate Acquits President Clinton," February 13, 1999
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