What’s the Difference Between Impeachment and Removal?

The difference between impeachment and removal is the difference between a charge and a punishment. Impeachment is a formal accusation voted on by the House of Representatives. Removal is the separate consequence that follows only if the Senate convicts on that accusation. An impeached official keeps the job unless and until the Senate votes by a two-thirds supermajority to convict, which has happened only eight times in American history, all involving federal judges.¹

Impeachment Is a Charge, Not a Verdict

Impeachment works like a federal indictment. The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the sole power to impeach in Article I, Section 2.² A simple majority of House members must vote in favor of one or more articles of impeachment, which spell out the specific charges. Once that vote passes, the official has been impeached. Nothing about their authority, powers, or paycheck changes at that moment.

The constitutional standard for impeachable conduct is “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”³ The phrase is deliberately broad and political rather than strictly criminal. Conduct does not need to violate any federal statute to qualify. Past articles have included abuse of power, obstruction, perjury, and tax evasion. The House decides what fits, and no court reviews that judgment.

Removal Requires a Separate Senate Conviction

After the House impeaches, the case moves to the Senate, which holds the sole power to try impeachments. House members called “managers” present the case like prosecutors, the official mounts a defense, evidence is presented, and senators question both sides. When a president is on trial, the Chief Justice of the United States presides.²

Conviction requires a two-thirds supermajority of the senators present, not of the full Senate.⁴ That threshold is intentionally steep. If even a single article draws two-thirds support, removal is automatic and immediate; the official loses the office the moment the vote is tallied. If no article clears two-thirds, the official is acquitted and stays in office. There is no middle outcome and no appeal.

If a president is removed, Section 1 of the 25th Amendment kicks in immediately and the vice president becomes president.⁵

Why the Distinction Actually Matters

Impeachment by itself changes nothing about an official’s day-to-day authority. Every president who has been impeached served out the rest of the term. The House has impeached 21 federal officials since 1789. Eight were convicted and removed by the Senate, eight were acquitted, and the rest resigned or had their cases dismissed.¹ All eight convictions involved federal judges.

Three presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in both 2019 and 2021. None was convicted. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before the full House voted, so he was never formally impeached at all. Popular usage often blurs “impeached” and “removed,” but they describe two different points in the process with two different results.

The Extra Penalty Only the Senate Can Add

Removal is not the only consequence available after a conviction. The Senate may take a separate vote to permanently bar the individual from holding “any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.”⁶ That covers both elected offices and appointed federal roles. Unlike conviction, disqualification requires only a simple majority.⁷ The Senate has used it three times, all against federal judges.¹

A president removed through impeachment and conviction also forfeits the benefits normally provided to former presidents. The Former Presidents Act defines “former President” as someone whose service ended “other than by removal pursuant to section 4 of article II.”⁸ A convicted president receives no pension, no office staff, and no other allowances under the Act.

What Neither Impeachment Nor Removal Does

Impeachment is a political process, not a criminal one. The Constitution caps its penalties at removal and disqualification.⁶ The same clause makes clear that a convicted official remains “liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.” Criminal prosecution for the underlying conduct is a separate matter handled by the ordinary justice system.

The pardon power does not reach impeachment itself. Article II, Section 2 grants the president authority to issue pardons “for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”⁹ No president can pardon away an impeachment, a conviction, or a disqualification. A later president could pardon any criminal charges that follow, since those live in a different legal track.

The Two Steps Side by Side

Who acts: The House impeaches. The Senate tries and, if it convicts, removes.
Voting threshold: Simple majority in the House to impeach. Two-thirds of senators present to convict and remove.
What it means: Impeachment is a formal charge. Removal is the punishment that ends the official’s tenure.
Effect on the official: An impeached official stays in office. A convicted official is out immediately.
Additional penalty: Only after conviction can the Senate take a second vote, by simple majority, to bar the person from future federal office.

1
U.S. House of Representatives. List of Individuals Impeached by the House of Representatives
2
Cornell Law School. The Power to Try Impeachments: Overview
3
Legal Information Institute. Article II, U.S. Constitution – Section 4
4
U.S. Senate. About Impeachment
5
Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Fifth Amendment
6
Library of Congress. Article I Section 3, U.S. Constitution
7
Justia. Judgment – Removal and Disqualification, Article II, U.S. Constitution Annotated
8
National Archives. Former Presidents Act
9
Library of Congress. Scope of Pardon Power, Constitution Annotated