Legal Issues in Impeachment Investigations, Part I: Authorization (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Sept. 29, 2023 |
| Report Number |
LSB11051 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Todd Garvey |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced on September 12, 2023, that he was directing various
House committees to “open a formal impeachment inquiry” into President Joe Biden. The Speaker’s
statement did not address precisely how the House will proceed, but it appears that the inquiry will be
“led” by the Committee on Oversight and Accountability “in coordination with” the Judiciary Committee
and the Committee on Ways and Means. Although there is no clear definition of what constitutes an
impeachment investigation, it may be characterized as an inquiry carried out to aid the House in
determining whether sufficient grounds exist to charge an impeachable official (“[t]he President, Vice
President and all civil Officers of the United States”) with an impeachable offense (“[t]reason, Bribery, or
other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”). The first hearing in this impeachment inquiry was held on
September 28, 2023.
The initiation of this inquiry marks an early step in a constitutional process that could lead to the nation’s
third presidential impeachment in just the last four years. It also may bolster the committees’ authority to
obtain information, as there is reason to believe that transitioning from a more traditional legislative
investigation—undertaken with a legislative purpose and within a committee’s delegated jurisdiction—to
an impeachment investigation may improve a committee’s legal and constitutional claims to access
certain types of evidence, including grand jury materials, privileged testimony and documents, and
possibly other personal information that a committee may otherwise have difficulty obtaining.
This is the first in a two-part Sidebar series addressing a pair of interrelated issues prompted by the
Speaker’s announcement. This Sidebar considers whether, as a legal matter, House committees can
engage in an impeachment investigation without explicit approval from the House (i.e., without passage
of a resolution expressly delegating the authority to conduct an impeachment investigation to a committee
or committees). As an internal House matter, it appears that a committee may do so, but whether the
executive branch and the courts agree with this view is likely to impact whether a committee can realize
the potential information access benefits associated with the impeachment power. Part II of this Sidebar
series will address the possible benefits of invoking the label of “impeachment inquiry,” including the
extent to which transitioning to an impeachment investigation may improve the House’s ability to obtain
relevant information, either voluntarily or through the courts.
