Can a non-sitting president be impeached?

There are impeachment documents being drafted, but there have been some arguments that they wouldn't go through the proceedings until after the inauguration. I recognize that impeaching Trump would take away many of the post-presidential benefits he would otherwise enjoy, but is it even possible to do this procedure after he leaves office?

  Topic Politics Subtopic
3 Years 2 Answers 2.5k views

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  1. Jess H. Brewer 1718 Community Answer

    My understanding is that he can be impeached now by the House and convicted by the Senate after he's out of office.  This would not remove him from office, obviously, but it could (should) cause his pension (and those of his family) to be cancelled and (most importantly) he can be forbidden from ever again holding a federal office.  That would be reassuring, assuming we can get through the next few weeks without Civil War II breaking out.   

    UTC 2021-01-10 07:05 PM 0 Comments
  2. Just for clarification purposes, President Donald Trump was actually impeached while still in office. His trial in the Senate, however, has not taken place and would take place after he has left office.


    The law is unclear here, but seems to indicate that the answer is yes. If the Senate has the power “to try all impeachments,” then it would seem that it has the power to try all individuals whom the House has impeached and brought to trial regardless of whether that individual still holds public office. The House has frequently chosen to drop its impeachment efforts when an officer resigns; in those cases, it has generally either not voted on an impeachment resolution, not drafted articles of impeachment or not presented articles of impeachment to the Senate. But the fact that the House frequently concludes that its goals have been accomplished by the officer’s resignation does not mean that the House could not have seen the impeachment through all the way to a Senate verdict.


    There is no immunity in the law for Presidents who no longer hold office. So this will probably all come down to the Supreme Court if the Senate surprisingly votes to convict and remove from office.

    UTC 2021-02-08 03:15 AM 0 Comments

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