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Frequently Asked Question about City and State Initiated Impeachment
- Is a local impeachment resolution just a symbolic gesture?
- What are the exact requirements for a City or State Resolution to be processed by the House?
Is a local impeachment resolution just a symbolic gesture?
Not entirely. It has a concrete result in the US House of Representatives. The charges should be sent to the Clerk and marked "Petition", and signed by the Secretary of State. They will then be entered into the Congressional Record and sent to the Judiciary Committee as an item of business. If the Judiciary acts then the charges could lead to an actual impeachment.
Also, as Larry Bragman of Fairfax, CA pointed out, it is better to do something symbolic to defend the Constitution than to do nothing. And as Senator Grubesic of New Mexico pointed out, the Boston Tea Party and Rosa Parks sitting at the front of the bus were also symbolic actions.
What are the exact requirements for a City or State Resolution to be processed by the House?
In order to be processed by the Speaker's Office, entered in the Congressional Record, and sent to the appropriate Committee, a petition or memorial must:
- Ask for something to be done by Congress, like "Impeach Bush". It cannot simply state an opinion like "Bush is a criminal".
- It must have an original signature, not a xerox copy of a signature.
- It must be sent to the Office of the Speaker of the House.
That's all. The above requirements have been verified by the House Parliamentarian Office several times. The Committee it gets routed to depends on the request. Asking for a Select Investigative Committee will go to the Rules Committee. Asking for Impeachment gets routed to the Judiciary Committee, and is probably CC:ed to the FBI. (Just kidding, sort of.)
Once it reaches the Committee then it can be legally ignored, even tossed in the trash. The law won't help us here. But an eloquent request, and public pressure might help in getting the desired response.
