Thursday, 19 December 2019

What does Donald Trump's impeachment mean? Five quick questions answered

Updated 17 minutes ago


The US House of Representatives will soon vote on whether or not to impeach President Donald Trump.
Here are five quick questions to help get you up to speed.

1. Will Donald Trump still be President?

Yes.
No matter what happens in this vote, for the time being Donald Trump will still be President.

2. What's happening?

It's the first step of a two-step process in the US Congress.
The House of Representatives will vote on two articles of impeachment. Only a simple majority is needed to pass each article.
If the vote on either of them succeeds, Mr Trump will be impeached.
It's set to be a historic day regardless of the outcome (only two US presidents have ever been impeached before). But it remains a mostly symbolic thing for now.
The practical consequences of impeachment get decided in the next step.
Want to know more?: We've gone through the articles of impeachment line-by-line here.

3. What happens next?

If the vote on every article of impeachment fails, then the impeachment process stops.
If even one succeeds, the impeachment process heads to the US Senate for a trial (we don't know when yet, but it's likely to be early next year).
The jurors in the trial are the 100 US senators (right now there are 53 Republican senators, 45 Democratic senators and two independents).
They'll decide whether to convict Mr Trump on the charges in the articles of impeachment.
A two-thirds majority — so 67 of those 100 senators — is needed to convict.
If that happens, Mr Trump is removed from office.
If not, he is acquitted of the charges and remains President.
TL;DR? Tap here and we'll take you to a chart explaining how it works.
Still want to know more? We've gone much deeper on the ins and outs of the whole impeachment process right here.

4. How's this going to end?

We don't know for sure. This impeachment saga has been a rollercoaster, and could still pack a late surprise.
Experts we've spoken to expect that the House will impeach Mr Trump, then the Senate will acquit him after a trial.
That means Mr Trump will remain President and contest the 2020 election.
Want to know more? There are now only four ways this impeachment story can end. Head here and we'll break down each possible outcome.

5. Do Americans vote on this?

No.
American voters will next vote in a presidential election on November 3, 2020 (November 4 AEST).

How can I stay up to date on this?

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Here's how impeachment works, in a handy chart

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