Coalition in Congress is being formed to support impeachment.

[tjwash]

"A coalition in Congress is being formed to support impeachment," an administration source said.

Sources said a prelude to the impeachment process could begin with hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February. They said the hearings would focus on the secret electronic surveillance program and whether Mr. Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Administration sources said the charges are expected to include false reports to Congress as well as Mr. Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency to engage in electronic surveillance inside the United States without a court warrant. This included the monitoring of overseas telephone calls and e-mail traffic to and from people living in the United States without requisite permission from a secret court.

More here at Insight Magazine.

I know that it's a RW media outlet, which makes it all that more intriguing. Just try to ignore the slanted ads and commercials on it.

[Oceansaway]

1. as if...hell, they cant seem to do a filibuster...GMAB

[William769]

2. well Dick Cheney finally figured out how to be President.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

3. Yeah Right....

The Dems can't even agree on a ham sandwich. There is not a single repub who will go along with this.

Face it guys, we're living in a facist country, and there is not a damn thing we can do about it. Call, fax, e-mail....spend your entire week trying to get through to your so-called reps. Hope you enjoy wasting your energy, because it's pointless.

Impeachment? You've got to be joking. That's the LAST thing that will ever happen to King george.

[schmuls]

4. Maybe your are right, but it would be worth the try if it made these

criminals nervous for awhile.

[schmuls]

5. meant as a reply to #3, sorry

[Independent_Liberal]

6. You're WRONG! There is stuff we can do GODDAMMIT!

I swear to god, if one more person posts a defeatist post like this and tells me I'm wasting my energy, I'm going to scream! It stops now! We're going to keep fighting whether you like it or not and we aren't going to let anybody stop us! Sorry, but I had to rant.

[DisVet]

7. I'm not gonna tell you that you can't, knock yourself out!

A good web site for reference is: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

US Constitution, Article I Section 2 - The House of Representatives has the sole power of impeachment. There is no Senate impeachment trial without a House Impeachment.

While the Senate normally operates under collegial rules, the House is a pure democracy. 50% plus one vote is a mandate and carries the day.

Impeachments fall under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee. If any member were to offer a motion to impeach, it goes to the Judiciary Committee which has 23 Republicans and 17 Democrats. (Their web site URL is http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembership.aspx)

So, to move anything to the floor, you need to get 21 votes in committee. Presuming the 17 Democrats, you'll need to get 4 Republicans.

A majority committee vote moves the matter to the floor of the house. Scheduling House votes are the perogative of the Majority Leader under presumption that he or she controls sufficiant votes to carry the day. The Majority Leader may be overridden by a disharge petition signed by 218 members. There are 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats and 1 Independent. Again presuming the Democrats and Bernie Sanders (the Indepndent), you need 15 Republicans "to vote to have a vote" for the discharge petition.

If the petition is successful, you get a House Vote and again need 15 Republicans to vote for impeachment.

That was the easy part.

The House notifies the Senate which takes over. The Chief Justice if the United States, John Roberts, presides, but has no vote.

In impeachments, The Senate acts not as jurors but as triors. The difference is that jurors decide facts and the judge gives them the law. Triors decide both - so they would determine not only if the House impeachment was factually accurate, but also if it rises to the level of impeachment.

Since the Senate operates under Unanimous Consent, if ANY Senator objects you need 60 votes out of 100 to get it moving. Since here are 44 Democrats and 1 Indepenent, you'd only need 15 Republicans to vote to hold the trial.

At an impeachment trial, the Speaker of the House personally chooses the House members who present the case to the Senate. Their official title in this role is "House Manager".

Of course to convict, 67 votes are needed and that would require 22 Republicans (23 if you count Sen Byrd as a NOT GUILTY).

So there you are, no undue emotion or negative comments that you can't do it - just a step by step roadmap.

Recommend Rehnquist"s book "Grand Inquests" http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=z17aHsyCKN&isbn=0688051421&itm=10

Frankly, I don't think the vote are there. Realistically they still won't be there this time next year since there aren't enough comptitive races. So just out of curiosity, and to make this interesting - which Republicans do you figure will see this the same way as you?

4 in the House Judiciary Committee
15 on the House Floor
15 to get the Senate out of deadlock
22/23 in the Senate to convict

[newyawker99]

8. Hi DisVet!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[FreedomAngel82]

9. It's called

voting in the midterms. If you don't vote you can't complain.