#crsreport

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CRS Gov Doc: The Impeachment Process in the House of Representatives

Under the U.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to formally charge a federal officer with wrongdoing, a process known as impeachment. The House impeaches an individual when a majority agrees to a House resolution containing explanations of the charges. The explanations in the resolution are referred to as “articles of impeachment.” After the House agrees to impeach an officer, the role of the Senate is to conduct a trial to determine whether the charged individual should be removed from office. Removal requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate.

The House impeachment process generally proceeds in three phases: (1) initiation of the impeachment process; (2) Judiciary Committee investigation, hearings, and markup of articles of impeachment; and (3) full House consideration of the articles of impeachment. MORE...

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This report provides a brief description of the SBA’s programs and examines congressional action to assist small businesses during and immediately following the Great Recession (2007-2009) and during the COVID-19 pandemic

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administers several types of programs to support small businesses, including direct disaster loan programsfor businesses, homeowners, and renters; loan guaranty and venture capital programs; management and technical assistance training programs; and contracting programs.Congressional interest in these programs has always been high, primarily because small businesses are viewed as a means to stimulate economic activity and create jobs, but it has become especially acute in the wake of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic’s widespread adverse economic impact on the national economy.

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CRS Gov Doc: The Impeachment Process in the Senate

After the House impeaches a federal officer, the Senate conducts a trial to determine if the individual should be removed from office. The Senate has a set of rules specific to the conduct of an impeachment trial, most of which originated in the early 19th century.

The impeachment rules lay out specific steps that the Senate takes to organize for a trial. House managers (Members of the House who present the case against the impeached officer in the Senate) read the articles of impeachment on the Senate floor. The Presiding Officer and Senators take an oath to do impartial justice, and the Senate issues a “summons” to the accused and requests that a written answer be filed. The House Managers are also invited to respond to the answer of the impeached officer. MORE...

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CRS Gov Doc: Impeachment and the Constitution

The Constitution grants Congress authority to impeach and remove the President, Vice President, and other federal “civil officers” for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Impeachment is one of the various checks and balances created by the Constitution, a crucial tool for holding government officers accountable for violations of the law and abuse of power. 

Responsibility and authority to determine whether to impeach an individual rests in the hands of the House of Representatives. Should a simple majority of the House approve articles of impeachment, the matter is then presented to the Senate, to which the Constitution provides the sole power to try an impeachment. A conviction on any one of the articles of impeachment requires the support of a two-thirds majority of the Senators present and results in that individual’s removal from office. The Senate also has discretion to vote to disqualify that official from holding a federal office in the future. MORE...

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This Insight describes federal online resources intended to help students and parents plan and acquire funds for postsecondary education. These include federal resources that provide general information on scholarships, grants, fellowships, and internships for undergraduate and graduate students; federal student aid (FSA) programs; and funding particular to specific education disciplines and categories of students. Some resources contain information on the repayment, forgiveness, and discharge of educational debt.

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In May 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau released its first findings from the new Household Pulse and Small Business Pulse Surveys, both now in Phase 3. These experimental products are designed to track the effects of the novel coronavirus disease—first observed in Wuhan, China, in 2019 (COVID-19) and declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. The bureau defines such products as those “using new data sources or methodologies that benefit data users in the absence of other relevant products.” Long before COVID-19 struck, the federal statistical system produced data that could gauge changes in mortality, health status, food supplies, unemployment, and business conditions, among other important variables. Not previously available, however, were the kind of data now provided by the pulse surveys, which are not only detailed but also being disseminated in almost real time to help policymakers respond to the pandemic and plan for recovery.