“High crimes and misdemeanors” is the constitutional standard for impeaching and removing federal officials, and it covers serious abuses of public trust rather than a fixed list of criminal acts. The phrase appears in Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, which says the President, Vice President, and all civil officers “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”1Cornell Law School. Article II U.S. Constitution Nothing in the Constitution or any federal statute defines what falls inside that catchall.2Library of Congress. ArtII.S4.4.1 Overview of Impeachable Offenses Congress decides, case by case, and the courts stay out of it.
What “High” Actually Means
The word “high” does not describe how bad the offense is. It describes the person committing it. These are wrongs done by people who hold public office and owe duties because of that office. Alexander Hamilton described impeachable offenses as arising from “the misconduct of public men, or in other words from the abuse or violation of some public trust,” calling them political offenses “as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.”3Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. ArtII.S4.4.2 Historical Background on Impeachable Offenses
So a private citizen who lies under oath commits perjury and can be prosecuted. A president who lies under oath can face the same prosecution, but impeachment addresses something different: the breach of the public trust that comes with the office. The conduct and the office together are what make the offense “high.”
Does It Have to Be a Crime?
No. Impeachable offenses do not have to be indictable crimes, and many historical impeachments have involved conduct that no criminal statute reaches.4Cornell Law School. Overview of Impeachable Offenses Congress has used impeachment against officials who abused the power of their office, acted in ways incompatible with their role, or misused their position for personal gain, regardless of whether a prosecutor could have charged them.
The reverse is also true. Ordinary crimes committed in a private capacity, unrelated to the duties of office, do not automatically become impeachable. The standard is about the exercise of public power, not a checklist of statutes.
The Constitution names two offenses on its own. Treason is defined in the document itself and consists only of levying war against the United States or adhering to its enemies by giving them aid and comfort.5LII / Legal Information Institute. Treason Clause – Doctrine and Practice Bribery involves a public official corruptly accepting something of value in exchange for official action.4Cornell Law School. Overview of Impeachable Offenses In practice, though, the broader “high crimes and misdemeanors” language has done far more work than either.
Where the Phrase Comes From
The Framers did not invent the language. They pulled it from centuries of English parliamentary practice, where the House of Commons impeached ministers and officials for conduct that endangered the state or subverted government, often for offenses beyond the reach of ordinary criminal courts.3Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. ArtII.S4.4.2 Historical Background on Impeachable Offenses
At the Constitutional Convention, delegates rejected a proposal to include “maladministration” as grounds for removal, worrying it was so vague it would let Congress remove a president for almost anything. They settled on “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” from the English tradition: narrower than maladministration, wider than the criminal code. The vagueness was a choice. The Framers wanted a standard that could reach political misconduct without being pinned to statutory definitions that would inevitably fail to anticipate every abuse.
The Supreme Court sealed this off from judicial review in 1993, holding that challenges to Senate impeachment procedures are nonjusticiable political questions. That leaves Congress as the sole interpreter of what qualifies. Gerald Ford, then a House member, put the practical reality bluntly: an impeachable offense is “whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”6Constitution Center. Interpretation – Article II, Section 4
Who the Standard Applies To
The impeachment clause reaches the President, Vice President, and “all civil Officers of the United States.” Federal judges are covered, and in fact they make up the majority of impeachment cases in American history.7Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Offices Eligible for Impeachment Cabinet secretaries and other executive branch officials qualify as well.
Members of Congress do not. The Senate resolved this in 1799 when it dismissed impeachment articles against Senator William Blount, holding that a senator is not a “civil officer” under the clause. Each chamber has its own removal mechanism: expulsion by a two-thirds vote of that chamber. Neither house has attempted to impeach a member of Congress since.8Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. ArtII.S4.2 Offices Eligible for Impeachment
How Congress Applies the Standard
Impeachment runs in two stages, split between the two chambers. The House investigates, typically through the Judiciary Committee, and drafts articles of impeachment laying out specific charges. A simple majority of the House is enough to impeach.9U.S. Senate. About Impeachment Impeachment by the House is a formal charge, not a removal.
The case then moves to the Senate for trial. Senators sit as jurors. When the President is on trial, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides.10Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. Historical Background on Impeachment Trials Conviction requires a two-thirds vote of the senators present.11U.S. Constitution Annotated | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute. Senate Practices in Impeachment Both votes are the mechanism by which Congress translates its interpretation of “high crimes and misdemeanors” into a decision about a specific official.
What Congress Has Treated as High Crimes
The House has impeached 21 federal officials in American history. Eight were convicted by the Senate and removed, all of them federal judges.12History, Art and Archives, U.S. House of Representatives. List of Individuals Impeached by the House of Representatives The charges in successful cases give the clearest picture of what the phrase has meant in practice.
Judicial Cases
The judicial impeachments cover a wide range of conduct. The first, Judge John Pickering in 1804, involved mental instability and drunkenness on the bench, neither of which was a crime. Other judges have been removed for corrupt financial relationships with parties before their courts, tax fraud, and perjury.13Federal Judicial Center. Impeachments of Federal Judges Judge West Humphreys was removed during the Civil War for refusing to hold court and waging war against the United States. Some of these were criminal acts; others were simply incompatible with holding the office.
Presidential Cases
Three presidents have been impeached. None was convicted.
Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 mainly for violating the Tenure of Office Act by removing his Secretary of War without Senate approval. The Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict.
Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 on charges of perjury before a federal grand jury and obstruction of justice, both tied to his testimony about a personal relationship. Both articles failed to reach two-thirds in the Senate.
Donald Trump was impeached twice. The 2019 articles charged abuse of power for pressuring a foreign government to investigate a political rival, and obstruction of Congress for refusing to comply with House subpoenas. The 2021 article charged incitement of insurrection related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The Senate acquitted in both trials.
Looking across the successful and unsuccessful cases, the recurring themes are corruption, dishonesty under oath, and using official power for personal or political benefit. Those threads are as close as American practice gets to a working definition.
What Conviction Does
Even when the Senate convicts, the punishment is limited. The Constitution caps it at removal from office and, at the Senate’s option, disqualification from holding any future federal office.14Legal Information Institute. Overview of Impeachment Judgments No fines, no prison. Of the eight officials removed in American history, only three were also disqualified.
Impeachment is not a substitute for criminal prosecution, and it is not protection from one either. The Constitution says a convicted official “shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.”15Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. Overview of Impeachment Judgments Impeachment answers a political question about whether someone should keep their office. The criminal justice system handles the rest on its own track.