Impeachment inquiry in the United States
In the United States, an impeachment inquiry (also known as an impeachment investigation) is an investigation or inquiry which usually occurs before a potential impeachment vote. Federal An impeachment inquiry is not a required step in United States federal impeachment, as the Constitution of the United States does not require the United States House of Representatives (which it empowers to impeach many federal officeholders) to exercise its powers of impeachment in any specific manner. It is permissible for articles of impeachment to be adopted without any formal inquiry first occurring. Nevertheless, impeachment inquiries have been used as a step in many federal impeachment efforts, with around 90 impeachment-related inquiries having been initiated by the House of Representatives since 1789. No individual had been impeached by the United States House of Representatives without a preceding inquiry stage until the second impeachment of President Donald Trump in 2021. However, the impeachment inquiries into President Andrew Johnson had been launched prior to the act that ultimately triggered his impeachment, and Johnson was impeached within three days without any extended investigation into that act. Launching of a federal impeachment inquiry In modern practice, impeachment inquiries often are spurred by referrals by external investigative bodies,