Congressional Research Service

 

Provides Information to Congress

 

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46185

 

Page 19

 

Voting on Articles of Impeachment

Conviction requires a guilty vote on at least one article of impeachment by two-thirds of Senators

present. Assuming 100 Senators present, the support of 67 Senators is needed to convict on an

article. If fewer Senators are present, the threshold to convict will accordingly be reduced as well

(e.g., 97 Senators present would require 65 votes to convict). A response of “present” effectively

supports acquittal, as it counts in the denominator against which the threshold to convict is

calculated.78

Following closed door deliberations on the final question of whether to convict or acquit an

impeached officer, the Senate reconvenes in open session to vote on the articles of impeachment.

Articles are typically voted on in the order they were exhibited by House Managers.

79 It is not in

order to further divide an article.

80

Pursuant to Impeachment Rule XXIII, the Presiding Officer puts the question on each article

separately, and each vote is required to be by roll call. The legislative clerk is directed to read the

article of impeachment aloud and then the roll is called, to which Senators must rise from their

seats and answer “guilty” or “not guilty” on the question of impeachment.

81 Voting on the articles

of impeachment is to continue without interruption, pursuant to Rule XXII, unless the Senate

adjourns the trial. After voting has commenced, adjournments of the trial can be for only one day,

or sine die, that is, without a specific date to return, if ever.

82 Under the rule, a motion to

reconsider a vote on an article of impeachment is not in order.

Under Senate Standing Rule XII, Senators are required to vote upon call of their name unless

excused by the Senate or due to a conflict of interest. The question of excusing a Senator from

voting is disposed of after the call of the roll is completed but before the result is announced.83

 

77 Congressional Record, daily edition, (February 9, 1999) pp. S1386-S1387.

78 Riddick’s Senate Procedure, p. 879.

79 During the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the Senate agreed to a motion directing that the eleventh

article of impeachment be read and voted on first.

80 Rule XXIII was amended in 1986 to include its current language about articles not being divisible. Earlier, an article

of impeachment had been divided into three parts by motion, each of which received a separate vote during the 1862

impeachment trial of Judge West Humphreys.

81 During voting on the two articles of impeachment in the Senate trial of President William J. Clinton, Senator Arlen

Specter responded “not proven, therefore, not guilty” reportedly in a reference to a third verdict of “not proved”

provided for under Scottish law. Senator Specter explained his vote in remarks inserted into the Congressional Record

that “I consulted with the Parliamentarian and examined the Senate precedents and found that if I voted simply ‘not

proven,’ that I would be marked on the voting roles as ‘present.’ I also found that a response of ‘present,’ and

inferentially the equivalent of ‘present,’ could be challenged and that I could be forced to cast a vote of ‘yea’ or ‘nay.’”

Congressional Record daily edition, vol. 145 (March 2, 1999), p. S2140.

82 During the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the Senate only voted on three of eleven articles of

impeachment before adjourning sine die. The eight remaining articles resulted in acquittals in the absence of a twothirds affirmative vote to convict. Hinds’ Precedents, vol. 3, ch. 76, §2443, pp. 900-901.

83 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Procedure and Guidelines for Impeachment Trials

The Impeachment Process in the Senate

Congressional Research Service 20

Senators have been excused from voting on articles of impeachment in past trials due to their

absences from arguments or owing to their participation as a witness in the trial. (Senators have

also been excused from participating in the trial at all; see above “Organizing for the Trial.”)

If an officer is convicted by two-thirds of Senators present, “such a vote operates automatically

and instantaneously to separate the person impeached from office.”

84 The Senate may then choose

to take the additional action to move to disqualify a convicted officer from holding further office,

although this step is not required. The Senate has established that a vote to disqualify requires a

simple majority voting affirmatively, and not two-thirds as with conviction.85