This Wednesday, the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee will proceed over hearings focusing on the legal nature of possible abuse of power by President Donald Trump. As these proceedings move forward, the concept of the impeachment process hovers abstractly.

The impeachment process centers around Congress, the government branch with two chambers of legislators who act as a check on the President and the executive branch.

Grounds for impeachment are judged by the House of Representatives, the larger chamber of congress whose members are elected based on populations of a given state.

Grounds for impeachment are stated in Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, which reads “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

According to the Congress’ annotated Constitution, Article I, § 2, cl. 5, gives the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment. Article I, § 3, cl. 6, gives the Senate the sole power to try all impeachments.

While treason and bribery are further defined in the constitution, the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” remains undefined according to Congress’s Annotated constitution.

Alexander Hamilton said in Federalist No. 65 with respect to the scope of “high crimes” as; “those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with particular propriety be denominated political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.”

The current president of the United States, Donald J. Trump is being investigated for presidential misconduct based on the infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to a memorandum of the conversation released by the White House, a report from an anonymous whistleblower asserted that President Trump asked for “a favor,” in the form of announcing public investigations into the Biden family. House Democrats’ concern lay with the fact that President was inappropriately asking for a political favor while at the same time withholding from Ukraine, $400 million in promised military aid, which was only later released by the president due to political pressure.

The House has the constitutional authority to hold, at any time, a floor vote on articles of impeachment requiring a simple majority. The inquiry is a method by which the House aims to provide a forum for its ongoing investigations and give due respect to parties involved, namely the president and the American public.

H. Res. 660 was agreed to in the house on Oct. 29, 2019, established the rules for the impeachment hearings and the continuing inquiry. The committees are directed to conduct hearings, question witnesses, review records and submit reports with their recommendations. The judiciary committee is directed to allow for the participation of the president and his counsel. The reports submitted back to the house will give the committee’s recommendations on further resolutions, or, if deemed appropriate, articles of impeachment.

This week, constitutional scholars will testify on the legal nature of the presidential actions under scrutiny. This is intended to shed light on whether their are sufficient grounds for the house to vote to indict the president, thereby impeaching him.

If articles are presented, a simple majority is needed to indict. If indicted, a senate trial will likely be held in 2020, where senators will deliberate on whether to convict or acquit. The president will only be removed from office if he is convicted by a two-thirds majority of present senate members.

The Process to Impeach