Anonymous wrote:Legislative committees are not in the Constitution. Political parties are not in the Constitution. There is no Constitutional impeachment proceeding until the full House has voted to initiate one; by itself, a partisan committee has exactly zero impeachment authority, because nonesuch was properly granted to it by the People's chosen representatives.
Always follow the authority trail. If it doesn't lead back to the People, then it's illegitimate
Here is what the US Constitution says about impeachment:
Section 4
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.
Here are the rules as they have evolved over the life of our republic
1) The House Judiciary Committee decides whether or not to proceed with impeachment. If they do...
2) The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee will propose a resolution calling for the Judiciary Committee to begin a formal inquiry into the issue of impeachment.
3) Based on their inquiry, the Judiciary Committee will send another resolution composed of one or more "Articles of Impeachment" to the full House stating that impeachment is warranted and why or that impeachment is not called for.
4) The Full House (probably operating under special floor rules set by the House Rules Committee) will debate and vote on each Article of Impeachment.
5) Should any one of the Articles of Impeachment be approved by a simple majority vote, the President will be "impeached." However, being impeached is sort of like being indicted for a crime. The president will remain in office pending the outcome of the Senate impeachment trial.
Right now, we are not even at #1.
So, no. Now, if the current "inquiry" yields facts that suggest that articles of impeachment should be drawn up, then we would get to #1 on this list.