[DannyTN]

Okay, so the house holds a hearing and votes to impeach.
Then what? It goes to the Senate for trial.

1. Can Reid block the trial?
2. Can the minority party in the Senate perform discovery during the trial?
3. How quickly could the Senate dismiss this, which presumably the democrat controlled Senate will want to do.
4. Can the hearings stretch out and keep Obama busy?

[Eagle of Liberty]

Okay, so the house holds a hearing and votes to impeach. Then what? It goes to the Senate for trial.

Impeachment

The Senate's Impeachment Role

The United States Constitution provides that the House of Representatives "shall have the sole Power of Impeachment" (Article I, section 2) and that "the Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments .... [but] no person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present" (Article I, section 3). The president, vice president, and all civil officers of the United States are subject to impeachment.

The concept of impeachment originated in England and was adopted by many of the American colonial governments and state constitutions. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the framers considered several possibilities before deciding that the Senate should try impeachments.

Impeachment is a very serious affair. This power of Congress is the ultimate weapon against officials of the federal government, and is a fundamental component of the constitutional system of “checks and balances.” In impeachment proceedings, the House of Representatives charges an official by approving, by majority vote, articles of impeachment. A committee of representatives, called “managers,” acts as prosecutors before the Senate. The Senate Chamber serves as the courtroom. The Senate becomes jury and judge, except in the case of presidential impeachment trials when the chief justice of the United States presides. The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict, and the penalty for an impeached official is removal from office. In some cases, disqualification from holding future offices is also imposed. There is no appeal.

Something NEW that I learned while reading the above is that ANY CIVIL OFFICER under Obama can be brought up for Impeachment!!!