What Happens After the President Is Removed From Office?
Right now, anyone interested in the state of American politics is plunging headlong into a series of hypothetical scenarios. If impeachment proceeds as planned by House Democrats, then an investigation by the House Judicial Committee will be initiated, followed by a vote of that committee on Articles of Impeachment, another House vote, and finally a trial and House vote. Senate. To date, only two US presidents have faced impeachment, although no lawsuit has resulted in that president’s removal from office.
But what happens after the impeachment and removal of the president from office? Let’s play a quick what-if game?
Who Becomes President?
You are correct in assuming that the vice president (Mike Pence in our hypothetical example) takes over in the absence of the president. This is in line with the president’s line of succession, which also applies if the president dies during service or resigns. During impeachment proceedings, the Senate will also decide whether the president can work in another ” office of public trust in the United States ” or in a different government position.
If the vice president had resigned, then House Speaker Pelosi would have stepped in, followed by interim Senate Charles Grassley, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, then Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin and a long line of other cabinet members (from those who were Senate approved on appointment) until the very last person in line: the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Under the 25th Amendment , the Acting President will then select a Vice President of his choice and upon approval by Congress, although there is no timetable for how soon this is to happen.
How long will the vice president serve?
The vice president is likely to end his presidential term with the opportunity to run for president. However, under the 22nd Amendment , if a Vice President takes over as President in less than two years to complete, he is eligible to run for two additional presidential terms. If a vice president assumes office as president when there is more than two years left before the original presidential term, he is only eligible for one additional term.
Has the VP intervened earlier?
Again, impeachment, which led to the removal of President from office, was not, but the Vice-President shall assume the presidency several times (many of them as a result of the death of the president at the time). When Nixon resigned in 1974, he was immediately replaced by then Vice President Gerald Ford .
Most recently, Vice President Dick Cheney was acting president twice while Bush was undergoing medical procedures (and only for a few hours). In terms of impeachment cases, only Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached , and both were acquitted.
Could the Vice President be impeached?
According to the Constitution , a vice president can be impeached according to the same standards that are charged with a president – serious crimes and misconduct – and in theory an acting president could be held accountable if they are found guilty of these crimes. But that’s not all – the constitution also requires that “all civil servants” also have the right to be impeached. However, the definition of “civil servant” is not as clearly defined, although it has been used several times to impeach federal judges .