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Can the impeachment proceedings continue over from one Congress to the next? Birmingham, Alabama - 5/11/00
According to past congressional practice, yes. Although some law professors have speculated
otherwise, their position would have to be litigated to have any practical application to the
pending case of President Clinton. Congress is acting based on the assumption of continuing
authority. Its position is based on three grounds:
(1) Logic. Impeachment is not legislation, which dies at the end of every Congress. It
represents an official confrontation between two branches of government and it remains a
confrontation until disposed of. Furthermore, the Senate is a continuing body; it does not
dissolve at the end of a Congress as does the House. If the Articles are with the Senate at the end
of a Congress, continuance does not arise as an issue.
(2) Parliamentary practice. Jefferson's Manual, in discussing impeachment, clearly states
the premise we inherited from the British practice. It states: "An impeachment is not
discontinued by the dissolution of Parliament, but may be resumed by the new Parliament."
(3) Historical precedence. Three impeachments have carried over from one Congress to
trials in the next: the most recent continuance occurring in 1989 in the trial of Judge Alcee
Hastings.
For a more extensive analysis on this subject, please visit the October 7, 1998 entry on the
House Judiciary Committee's website listing of CRS reports: Impeachment Archives.
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