Impeachment

In the United States impeachment can occur both at the federal and state level. At the federal level, both the executive branch and the judiciary may be impeached, though different standards apply. For the executive branch, only those who have allegedly committed "reason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" may be impeached. Although treason and bribery are obvious, the Constitution is silent on what constitutes a "high crime." Several commentators have suggested that Congress …

…has vacated his office in order to disqualify the person from future office or from certain emoluments of their prior office (such as a pension.) If a two-thirds majority of the senators present does not vote "guilty" on one or more of the charges, the defendant is acquitted and no punishment is imposed. Congress regards impeachment as a power to be used only in extreme cases; the House has initiated impeachment proceedings only 62 times since1789.