The Impeachment Process: President Donald Trump

President Donald J. Trump is an extremely influential political figure and has a lot of power, and that power creates effects nationwide. The actions of the President of the United States are very important and are very critical decisions, such as discussions and collaborations with leaders around the world. However, sometimes these decisions can be questioned. Impeachment is when the integrity or validity of the president is questioned. The Supreme Court has the authority to put the President, Vice President, or any government officials on trial if they are accused of treason, or turning against their nation, along with other reasons.

 President Trump’s actions obviously have a very big impact on the country and those may include his unconventional manner of speaking. However, the president is actually on trial in the impeachment inquiry because other government officials are accusing the president of illegal discussions with foreign leaders, most notably Ukraine. Other government officials believe this because they believe the President is investigating former United States Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden due to his past involvement with Ukraine. As Vice President, Biden had indeed talked to the President of Ukraine, discussing that the United States should push to ship certain anti-tank missiles to Ukraine. However, these discussions were appropriate for the role of the Vice President. Currently, the impeachment inquiry is investigating whether President Trump has offered requested additional military aid to Ukraine as a bargaining chip to gain more insight on whether Biden’s actions have been unlawful in any way. This is important as Biden is currently the President’s main campaign rival for the 2020 Presidential elections. However, whether the president has done anything wrong is still being investigated. 

Impeachment is a very long process and goes through three steps. First, Congress as a whole investigates the impeachment claim. The House of Representatives will vote to pass the impeachment and investigate the claim. If passed, the Senate tries the accused. In case the person being accused is the president, two-thirds of the Senate has to agree for the president to be removed from the office; otherwise they are they simply convicted as impeached. Currently, the impeachment inquiry is in the initial investigation stage. 

In conclusion, the process for impeachment is long, and President Donald Trump is currently being put on impeachment trial of being accused of unlawful actions. To follow the impeachment process, feel free to check out CNN’s live updates here. What do you think of the President’s actions and the impeachment process?

Article edited to add: As of late on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, President Donald Trump has been impeached. The proceedings will be held by the Senate, reportedly via a trial in January 2020. 

Works Cited

Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner. “Democrats Announce Eight Witnesses, Including Vindman, Sondland, and Volker, for next Week’s Public Impeachment Hearings.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 13 Nov. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry-live-updates/2019/11/12/229f5484-04de-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html.

Thrush, Glenn, and Kenneth P. Vogel. “What Joe Biden Actually Did in Ukraine.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/11/10/us/politics/joe-biden-ukraine.html.\