Impeachment — The Constitution Annotated and Other Resources

***With today’s opening of former President Donald J. Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, we are republishing this blog post from Jan 16, 2020 with some updated and added content.***

U.S. Constitution art. I, § 3

In September 2019 we posted about the Library of Congress’ makeover of The Constitution of the United States of America, better known as the Constitution Annotated or CONAN. The Constitution Annotated is an invaluable tool for the researcher who needs constitutional analysis. The beauty of the new online version is not only its searchability, but also the Library of Congress’ ability to provide contemporary updates to the resource. To this end, the Library of Congress announced in December 2019 that the annotations to Constitution Articles I, II and III have been revised to include updated essays on the topic of impeachment. The essays are consolidated at the Constitution Annotated Resources about Impeachment page.

The Constitution Annotated also provides links to recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports that relate to impeachment. Impeachment and the Constitution provides an historical background on impeachment, sets out the roles of the House and Senate in impeachment proceedings and answers questions about historical practices of Congress and recurring impeachment issues. The CRS Legal Sidebar, Impeachment Investigations: Law and Process answers the question “What Must the Senate Do in Response to an Impeachment by the House?” A recent CRS Legal Sidebar also sets out the arguments for and against the constitutionality of impeaching a former President.

As our nation faces the fourth presidential impeachment trial in its history, the Washington State Law Library invites you to take a look at the Constitution Annotated and some additional resources we found.

∙ Impeachment entry at the Cornell Legal Information Institute’s Wex legal encyclopedia

∙ Bowdoin College Library’s Congressional Documents: Impeachment research guide

∙ Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library’s Impeachment Resource Guide

∙ UC San Diego’s impeachment timeline and compilation of “documents and statements by government officials related to the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump.”

∙ UC San Diego’s compilation of documents related to the whistleblower complaint and 2020 impeachment of President Donald J. Trump

∙ govinfo’s Impeachment Related Publications

At the State Law Library:

∙ HeinOnline U.S. Presidential Impeachment Library (contact the library for more information)

∙ Supplement to The Congressional Globe : Containing the Proceedings of the Senate Sitting for the Trial of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States

∙ Proceedings of the United States Senate in the Impeachment Trial of President William Jefferson Clinton (SC)