Rules That Impeached Presidents Have To Follow

As you might remember from junior high social studies or civics class, the American federal government consists of three branches: the Executive, which includes the president and the cabinet; the Legislative, which is Congress; and the Judicial, which is made up of the federal courts.

To protect against any one branch having too much power, a system referred to as "checks and balances" was created. One of the ways that Congress can keep the president of the United States in line and acting in the best interests of the nation is the threat and execution of impeachment and removal from office.

According to the New York Times, that process all starts with the House filling one or more articles of impeachment. Those articles would need to accuse the president of really serious offenses, which the Constitution defines as

"...treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Contrary to common belief and misuse of the term, "impeachment" doesn't mean to fire the president, but rather to officially accuse the chief executive of breaking the law, which then triggers a trial in the Senate. Three presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. Trump is likely to be the first to be impeached twice.

None have been convicted so far, and thus they didn't face the consequence of removal from office, but their administrations and legacies will forever carry the stain of impeachment. If they'd been convicted, they'd have had to accept certain laws and Constitutionally mandated rules.

If the House impeaches a president, but the Senate doesn't garner enough votes to convict and expel them from the presidency, then nothing really changes. A presidency was on the brink of ending, but then it didn't. Without a conviction and punishment, these presidents are afforded the same rights and privileges once their term ends as they would had they never been impeached. It's basically a not-guilty verdict, so they're free to go. This also applies to their future political prospects.

On the other hand, presidents who are impeached and convicted can be barred from holding federal office ever again. According to Time, that's a big reason behind the push to bring charges against Donald Trump in the final days of his presidential term in January 2021.

If he's found guilty of a charge of incitement of insurrection, as outlined in the article of impeachment raised in the House of Representatives, the Constitution says the Senate could hold a second vote to prevent Trump from ever running for president or any other federal office in the future. After losing the 2020 election, the president has toyed with the idea of running for a second, non-consecutive term in 2024, according to Politico. And unlike conviction, which requires two-thirds majority in the senate, the vote to bar a president from holding future office seemingly only requires a simple "yes" vote from a majority of the 100 senators, though Time notes that standard could be challenged in court.

A president impeached by the House, convicted by the Senate, and then removed from his position by that same Senate doesn't get the benefits typically afforded to former commanders-in-chief.

The Former Presidents Act states that ex-presidents who serve out the terms for which they were duly elected or legally succeeded receive a lifetime annual pension that's "equal to the annual rate of basic pay" of a top-level executive government official. As of 2020, that figure is $219,200. The current annual salary for a sitting president is $400,000.

The Former Presidents Act also allows for federal funding for the former president to have a staff and offices anywhere in the United States, along with up to $1 million per year in security and travel expenses, which funds a lifelong Secret Service protective detail.

There's also a clause in the law that specifically prevents presidents who have been removed from office via impeachment from collecting that cash. If President Trump is convicted by the Senate, then he won't receive these parting gifts.

If the Senate were to once again find him not guilty, though, he'd get all the benefits every other former president receives.

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