Impeachment facts for kids

The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist presiding. The House managers are seated beside the quarter-circular tables on the left and the president's personal counsel on the right, much in the fashion of President Andrew Johnson's trial

Impeachment is a way to remove government officials from office in some countries. It happens when the official does not want to leave his or her job. It is like an indictment (something that the prosecutor needs to get before the trial). Someone is impeached when a legislature votes to do that. Later, there is another vote on whether or not to convict, which is like guilty. The second vote may be by the same people who did the impeachment, or someone else as in a bicameral legislature.

Images for kids

• 

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff (left) and South Korean president Park Geun-Hye (right) were both impeached and removed from office in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

• 

  Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas was the first European head of state to have been impeached.

• 

  Peru's president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski speaks about the impeachment process against him

• 

  Boris Yeltsin, as president of Russia, survived several impeachment attempts

• 

  United States president Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2019, and then again in 2021, with one week left in office.

See also

In Spanish: Proceso de destitución para niños