What Does the Constitution Say About Impeachment?

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2019

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How should impeachment be carried out, according to the Constitution? This episode explores the constitutional process of impeachment, from investigation and passage of articles of impeachment by the House of Representatives, to the Senate trial, and the aftermath. Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, who served on the House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon impeachment, and Gene Healy, author of Indispensable Remedy: The Broad Scope of the Constitution’s Impeachment Power detail the constitutional framework under which impeachment has been carried out in the past, how those precedents compare to what’s happening today, and what might happen next. Jeffrey Rosen hosts. Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome
0:07.5	to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:11.2	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress
0:15.8	to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:21.6	Today we'll explore the constitutional procedures underlying
0:26.1	the impeachment process. We'll focus on what the Constitution says about
0:31.4	impeachment and ask are there rules for impeachment
0:34.6	in the Constitution that Congress has to follow? What is the Senate required to do if
0:40.0	the House impeaches if anything and what might happen after impeachment.
0:44.2	Joining us to explore these fascinating and important constitutional questions are two of America's
0:48.9	leading experts on the Constitution and impeachment.
0:52.7	Elizabeth Holtzman is an attorney with Herrick Feinstein in New York.
0:56.6	She was a four-term Congresswoman who served on the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate
1:01.7	and voted to impeach Richard Nixon.
1:04.0	She also co-authored the Special Prosecutor Bill and held the record as the youngest woman elected
1:08.8	to Congress for 42 years. Congresswoman Holzman is the author of the case for impeaching Trump and co-author of three other books.
1:19.0	Congresswoman Holtzman, thank you so much for joining.
1:22.0	Well, thank you.
1:23.0	Great to be with you.
1:25.0	Wonderful.
1:26.0	And Jean Healy is Vice President at the Cato Institute,
1:28.0	where he researches executive power
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Constitution Center, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Constitution Center and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.