Congressional History and Impeachment

 For Next Monday, Davidson, ch. 3-4.

Wed. Davidson ch. 5 (Note revision of syllabus).

HAVE QUESTIONS FOR CANDACE VALENZUELA.

Congress and the Civil War

The congressional oath of office dates from this era.

Andrew Johnson Impeachment -- see esp. Article Ten

Impeachment v. Bill of Attainder

Persons subject to impeachment 

A separate process for disciplining members of Congress.

• Notorious MTG

The list

The House

• "Due process" does not apply.  
• The Fifth Amendment says no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Impeachment merely removes a person from office.
  

The Senate

• The majority makes the rules
• The role of the Chief Justice

The Grounds

• Treason
• Bribery
• High Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Gerald R. Ford 1970: "An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.” 

The Special Case of the President

• The "take care" clause
• At Harvard Law Review, Andrew Kent.Ethan J. Leib, and Jed Handelsman Shugerman have an article titled "Faithful Execution and Article II." From the abstract:
  Article II of the U.S. Constitution twice imposes a duty of “faithful execution” on the President, who must “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” and take an oath or affirmation to “faithfully execute the Office of President.

Nixon

• Yes, there was a partisan dimension.
• A key staffer remembers...

Clinton

Lindsey Graham 1999: “What’s a high crime? ... Doesn’t even have to be a crime. It’s just when you start using your office and you’re acting in a way that hurts people, you’ve committed a high crime.” https://t.co/fYgIHpaHfE

— Jack Pitney (@jpitney) February 2, 2021

Trump Impeachment I