LANSING, Mich. — This impeachment inquiry is just beginning and won't be completed overnight.
But a lot of people don't understand the process, especially the younger generation. People under 20 weren't even born yet for Bill Clinton's impeachment, so there's a little confusion how everything works.
Only two U.S. presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. But both were acquitted and able to finish their terms in office. On the other hand, Richard Nixon resigned before the process was completed. So you could say, this isn't an everyday thing.
"It's one of the good things about our constitution. We have a provision that if we need to, we can throw somebody out. But we're not going to do it very often," former lawyer Richard McLellan said.
To break down the process, Fox 47 spoke to attorney Richard McLellan, who has worked with governors, the Supreme Court, and even former President Gerald R. Ford, who became President when Nixon resigned. He says it usually starts with an investigation into what the president is accused of doing. Then the House of Representatives votes on articles of impeachment. It takes a majority--218 votes--to impeach the president. But that's not the end.
"Impeaching a president does not remove him from office, or her," McLellan added.
If impeached, the President goes on trial in the Senate. It takes 67 votes to remove him from office. McLellan doesn't see it happening.
"The American people and their congress have only tried three times and they have never gone through an impeachment proceeding. They have never convicted somebody on impeachment and therefore removed him from office," he said.
Right now there are 53 Republicans in the Senate. That means every Democrat and 22 Republicans would have to vote to remove President Trump from office.
For context, the House voted to start impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton on Oct. 8th of 1998.
The votes on the articles of impeachment didn't happen until Dec. 19th. He was acquitted by the Senate on Feb. 12th of 1999.
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