US Constitution Allows Impeachment of Cabinet Secretaries

The US Constitution permits Congress to impeach and remove federal officials, including Cabinet secretaries.

Article II, Section 4 states that “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors,” placing Cabinet secretaries within the scope of “all civil Officers.”

Impeachment proceedings begin in the House of Representatives, where a resolution or investigative committee may introduce charges. If a simple majority of the House votes to impeach, the matter moves to the Senate for trial. Conviction in the Senate requires a two‑thirds majority.

Unlike presidential trials, the Constitution does not specify who presides over a Senate trial of a Cabinet secretary. An impeachment is a formal accusation, not a conviction, and a secretary may continue in office while the Senate deliberates.

Historically, William W. Belknap, the former War Secretary under President Ulysses S. Grant, became the first Cabinet secretary impeached in 1876 after resigning hours before the House vote. The second was Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary in the Biden administration, whose House impeachment in February 2024 was dismissed by the Senate two months later, allowing him to remain in post until the end of President Joe Biden’s term.

Source: ABC News. Photo: Mark Stebnicki / Pexels.