that report explains, the House’s authority to structure an impeachment is rooted in two provisions of Article I of the Constitution. First, Article I vests the House with the “sole Power of Impeachment.”[1] It imposes no other requirements as to how the House must carry out that responsibility. Second, Article I further states that the House is empowered to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.”[2] Taken together, these provisions give the House sole discretion to determine the manner in which it will investigate, deliberate, and vote upon grounds for impeachment.
House precedent confirms that the House may proceed directly to consideration of articles of impeachment on the House floor. As Jefferson’s Manual notes, “[i]n the House various events have been credited with setting an impeachment in motion,” including charges made on the floor, resolutions introduced by Members, or “facts developed and reported by an investigating committee of the House.”[3] Indeed, any Member can call up a resolution containing articles of impeachment on the floor as a question of the privileges of the House. The House can dispose of the resolution in several ways including by voting on the resolution directly.
In the past, the House has conducted an inquiry to investigate allegations of impeachable misconduct against the President of the United States before voting directly on whether to adopt articles of impeachment. The unprecedented role President Trump played in inciting an insurrectionist assault on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, however, has created extraordinary circumstances that both demand the House act swiftly and obviate the need for the House to conduct a lengthy inquiry into his conduct. The urgency of the situation—as well as the fact that the President’s actions occurred in public, and many Members directly witnessed and were victim to the consequences of those actions—obviates the need for additional inquiry.[4]
- B. Application of Impeachment Standards to President Trump’s Conduct
As the Article of Impeachment sets forth, President Trump’s conduct easily satisfies the standards for a high Crime and Misdemeanor.
- 1. The Article of Impeachment Charges an Impeachable Offense
The Committee on the Judiciary’s December 15, 2019 report is incorporated herein by reference.[5]
As discussed in the Committee’s prior report, under that standard, there can be no doubt that President Trump has committed “high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” On January 6, 2021, he
- ↑ U.S. Const. art I, § 2, cl. 5.
- ↑ U.S. Const. art. I, § 5, cl. 2.
- ↑ Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual, Rules of the House of Representatives of the United States, H. Doc. No. 115-177 § 603 (2019 ed.) (hereinafter “Jefferson’s Manual”).
- ↑ Committees of Congress are continuing to investigate misconduct relating to President Trump’s earlier efforts to interfere with the 2016 election and to consider related legislative reforms.
- ↑ See H. Rept. 116-346; H. Doc. 116-95.
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