Virtual Event – “Impeachment and the Rule of Law”
This virtual event was held on Friday, March 8 at 12 pm ET.
The Constitution gives Congress the significant power to impeach, remove, and potentially bar officials from future office. The Founders saw this as a crucial check on the powers of the executive and judicial branches of government. Yet only a handful of impeachment efforts, all for judges, have succeeded. In recent years, impeachment inquiries become, and some would say more partisan.
As the Senate considers the first impeachment of a Cabinet Member in nearly 150 years — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — the Society hosted a virtual event to discuss the original meaning, purpose, history, and future of impeachment. We covered:
- How a proper understanding of impeachment can promote the rule of law, the dangers posed by its misuse, and how the process may intersect with criminal laws
- The Trump impeachments and their impact on the process going forward
- The status of the Biden impeachment inquiry in the House, and likely outcomes
Speakers
Ilya Somin
Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. Charter Member, Society for the Rule of Law.
Keith E. Whittington
William Nelson Professor of Politics at Princeton University. Charter Member, Society for the Rule of Law.
Gregg Nunziata
Executive Director, Society for the Rule of Law.
Resources
- “The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool,” by Keith E. Whittington, Princeton University Press, November 12, 2024
- “Must Impeachable Offenses Be Violations of the Criminal Code?” by Keith E. Whittington, Lawfare, November 19, 2019
- “Must the House Vote to Authorize an Impeachment Inquiry?” by Keith E. Whittington, Lawfare, October 9, 2019
- “Is a Senate Impeachment Trial Optional?” by Keith E. Whittington, Niskanen Center, September 25, 2019
- “Should the House Impeach If the Senate Won’t Convict?” by Keith E. Whittington, Lawfare, May 8, 2019
- “Trump’s First Amendment rights don’t matter for his impeachment trial,” by Ilya Somin, The Washington Post, February 8, 2021
- “The Case Against the Slippery Slope Case Against Impeachment for Abuse of Power,” by Ilya Somin, Reason, January 21, 2020
- “The Case for More Impeachments,” by Gregg Nunziata, The Dispatch, January 28, 2020
For press inquiries, please contact Tony Franquiz at [email protected].