The United States faces an event that could change the balance of power in Washington. The mid-term legislative elections are approaching and the Democrats aspire to regain control of Congress, currently in the hands of the Republicans.
This would limit Donald Trump’s ability to carry out his policies. And it leaves a question: Could a Democratic victory end with the president’s impeachment before his term ends?
The US Constitution contemplates this possibility through the procedure known as impeachment, although winning the elections would not be enough to remove Trump from the White House. To achieve this, the Democrats would need to overcome two parliamentary votes, the second of them in the Senate with a very large majority.
And it would not be the first time that Trump has overcome this procedure. The president has already faced two procedures of this type, during his first term, and both ended with his acquittal in the Senate.
How impeachment works in the United States
The impeachment procedure begins in the House of Representatives, which has exclusive jurisdiction to bring charges against the president.
A simple majority is enough to approve them. If all 435 seats are occupied and all members vote, 218 favorable votes would be necessary.
A Democratic majority could, therefore, push for parliamentary investigations and approve an impeachment against Trump if it considers there are constitutional grounds to do so.
However, the approval of an impeachment does not mean the automatic removal of the president. The procedure then passes to the Senate, in charge of holding the impeachment trial and deciding whether it is appropriate to remove him from office.
The Constitution requires the favorable vote of two-thirds of the senators present to convict the president. If all 100 members of the Upper House participate, 67 votes would be necessary.
Why winning the election wouldn’t be enough to remove Trump from office
Republicans enter the elections with 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate, compared to 47 for the Democratic bloc, which includes two independents.
Even if Democrats were to win a slim majority in both chambers, they would still need the support of Republican senators to reach the 67 votes needed for impeachment.
Article II of the Constitution establishes that a president can be removed from office for treason, bribery or other serious crimes and misdemeanors of special gravity, included under the English expression high crimes and misdemeanors.
A prior criminal conviction is not necessary to initiate the procedure, but a political disagreement with the president’s decisions is not in itself a sufficient reason.
If Trump were impeached, Vice President JD Vance would assume the presidency. New presidential elections would not be automatically called.
Could Democrats initiate a third impeachment?
Several Democratic congressmen have raised initiatives against Trump during his second term, although the party leadership has not yet placed a new impeachment among its top priorities.
An analysis published by the Brookings think tank indicates that the main obstacle is precisely the requirement of two-thirds in the Senate. Also remember that a procedure of this nature can last for months without necessarily ending in a conviction.
Therefore, recovering the House of Representatives would allow Democrats to open investigations and push for a third impeachment against Trump, but it would not guarantee that the procedure would succeed in the Senate.
