Is a Senate trial required after the House impeaches a president?

Question

If the House of Representatives impeaches a president, everything I read says that there is then a trial by the Senate regarding removal from office. If the House impeaches a president, is it legally necessary to go forward with a Senate trial or is it an option for the House?

Answer 1

Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 says

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.

Therefore, the House cannot try an impeachment.

The wording of the Constitution does not say "The Senate must try any impeachment delivered by the House". The option to reject an impeachment by simple majority runs completely counter to Senate tradition. But analogous to deployment of the "nuclear option" to change Senate rules, it is a conceivable outcome. The first impeachment presented to the Senate was against a Senator, William Blount in 1797, and in that instance the Senate appears to have voted that Blount was not an impeachable officer (so they did not vote on impeachment, but they did vote to expel him). In Nixon v. US, SCOTUS ruled that Senate impeachment actions are not justiciable. While current Senate rules require a trial, the rules can be changed by the Senate by a majority vote, and SCOTUS will not review such actions.

The Senate can also adjourn and not take up one or more articles, as happened in Andrew Johnson's case.

Answer 2

The other answers are correct to say that the trial takes place in the Senate and that the constitution does not say that the Senate must take the issue up. It simply says the Senate shall try all impeachments.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.

Senate rules indicate that the Senate should take up the matter.

III. Upon such articles being presented to the Senate, the Senate shall, at 1 o’clock afternoon of the day (Sunday excepted) following such presentation, or sooner if ordered by the Senate, proceed to the consideration of such articles and shall continue in session from day to day (Sundays excepted) after the trial shall commence (unless otherwise ordered by the Senate) until final judgment shall be rendered, and so much longer as may, in its judgment, be needful.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/background/impeach/senaterules.pdf

Sometimes Senate rules are ignored, but the intent of the rules is clearly that a trial should be held. There may not be an official trial, but under the rules, the decisions of the house must at least be considered by the Senate.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-senate-decline-try-impeachment-case

Answer 3

Note: Answering the question made in the comments.

A trial by the Senate is constitutionally required; the House initiates the process of removal, and the Senate then conducts a trial and votes as to whether to remove the President (or a federal judge for that matter) from office.

This is by design; The House is weighted by population, while the Senate has equal representation by State. Both Houses of Congress are required to act in concert for Congress to exercise its unappealable impeachment power against the other branches of government. (For impeaching within the Legislative Branch, each House has sole jurisdiction over itself; i.e. the House of Representatives governs the House of Representatives, and the Senate governs the Senate).

Answer 4

The term "Impeach" when used in this manner is akin to a "charge" by a prosecution of a crime (here the charges are called "Articles of Impeachment") and the Impeached officer is as guilty as someone who is charged with a crime (that is to say, they are presumed innocent until the prosecution proves otherwise).

The House must submit all "Articles of Impeachment" to the Senate and a group of House members will act as Prosecutor while the officer's legal response will be the officer's defense. Per Senate.gov, the Senate is "The High Court of Impeachment" (and confirmed by SCOTUS in Nixon v. United States) so there is no appeal process for any decision rendered by the Senate. With exception to the Jury, the trial is like any U.S. trial court (the Jury is the present Senate and conviction is on 2/3rds majority. If all 100 senators are present, it is 67 yea votes.). Conviction immediately removes the officer from office and the Senate may at a later date bar the convicted individual from holding future federal office by 51% majority.

While the House must bring charges to the Senate, the Senate has the right to dismiss the charges or adjourn the trial without a vote on a charge, sine die, though both cases happened only once for each instance in U.S. History. As the High Court of Impeachment, these would have the legal effect of dismissal with prejudice in an ordinary judicial court (i.e. the Court refuses to hear this case and will not accept refiling for any reason) and can happen with a 51% majority as well.