Impeachment of US Cabinet Secretaries and Congress’s Removal Process

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to impeach and try federal civil officers, including Cabinet secretaries. Impeachment is a formal accusation, not a finding of guilt: removal requires a Senate conviction. The process divides responsibility between the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Constitutional Basis for Impeachment

Article II, Section 4 provides that the President, Vice President and “all civil Officers of the United States” may be removed after impeachment and conviction for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Cabinet secretaries fall within the category of civil officers and are therefore subject to impeachment. The Constitution does not define “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” as a specific list of offences. The phrase has historically been understood to include abuses of official power and breaches of public trust; it is not limited to conduct that violates a criminal statute. Whether alleged conduct meets this constitutional standard is considered through the congressional process.

• House authority: Article I gives the House the sole power of impeachment.
• Senate authority: Article I gives the Senate the sole power to try impeachments.
• Constitutional threshold: Impeachment requires an accusation by the House; conviction and removal require a separate Senate decision.
• Scope: Cabinet secretaries are not exempt because they are appointed executive officials; they are civil officers covered by Article II, Section 4.

House of Representatives: Investigation and Impeachment

The House process may begin with a resolution or an investigation by a House committee, often the Judiciary Committee. An investigation examines the alleged conduct and whether it may justify formal charges. If a committee finds grounds to proceed, it drafts articles of impeachment, each setting out an alleged offence. The full House debates the articles and votes on them. A simple majority of members present is required to approve an article. Each approved article becomes a formal charge against the official; it does not establish guilt or itself remove the official from office.

• Investigation: A committee may examine the allegations before the House considers formal charges.
• Articles of impeachment: These state the allegations that the House is asking the Senate to try.
• House vote: Each article is considered and voted on separately.
• Effect of approval: The official is impeached, in the sense of being formally accused, but is not thereby convicted.

Impeachment by the House is comparable to an indictment: it authorises the next stage but is not a judgment. An impeached Cabinet secretary can remain in office while the Senate considers the charges. If the House does not approve an article, that article does not proceed to a Senate trial.

Senate Trial and Possible Penalties

When the House approves articles, they are sent to the Senate for trial. House members known as managers present the case against the official. The Senate considers the charges and votes on whether to convict. The constitutional requirement is a two-thirds majority of senators present. The Constitution specifies that the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over a presidential impeachment trial. It is less explicit about who presides when the Senate tries another civil officer, such as a Cabinet secretary.

• Trial: The Senate considers the House’s articles; House managers act as prosecutors.
• Conviction threshold: At least two-thirds of senators present must vote to convict.
• Removal: Conviction results in removal from office.
• Disqualification: The Senate may separately vote to disqualify a convicted official from holding future federal office; this requires a simple majority.
• Acquittal or dismissal: Without conviction, the official is not removed through impeachment.

The Senate’s decision is distinct from a criminal prosecution. The constitutional process determines whether an official should be removed and, where applicable, disqualified from future federal office; the House’s accusation alone does not impose either consequence. The Senate may also face the question of whether it can try an official who has left office, as the Belknap case illustrates.

Cabinet Secretary Impeachments in U.S. History

Impeachment of Cabinet secretaries has been rare. Two secretaries have been impeached: William W. Belknap, Secretary of War, in 1876 and Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, in 2024.

• William W. Belknap (1876): The House impeached Belknap over charges that he accepted bribes connected with trading-post appointments. He had resigned hours before the House vote. The Senate voted that it had jurisdiction to try a former official, but acquitted him because the votes for conviction did not reach the required two-thirds majority.
• Alejandro Mayorkas (2024): The House approved two articles alleging “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” in immigration enforcement and breach of public trust. The Senate dismissed the case in April 2024, concluding that the allegations did not meet the constitutional standard of “high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Mayorkas was not removed from office.

These cases illustrate that resignation does not necessarily end congressional proceedings and that House impeachment does not determine the Senate’s outcome. The House may approve charges, but conviction still depends on the Senate’s constitutional threshold.

Recent Context

On November 9, 2026, Representative Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, including allegations concerning military action and other official conduct. On November 10, House Republicans voted 211–204 to refer the resolution to a committee, halting it during the lame-duck session.