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Federal Impeachment

Using both Library of Congress materials and related congressional documents, this guide provides general and legal materials on the origins of impeachment, procedures governing impeachment, and past impeachments of presidents and other federal officers.

Introduction

Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. 2008. Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

This research bibliography, prepared by librarians at the Law Library of Congress, directs researchers to resources about the history of impeachment, its Constitutional foundation, and Congressional documents related to the impeachment of federal officers from 1798 through 2019. Please note: this guide does not include resources directly related to the impeachment proceedings against President Trump. The guide will be updated to include materials relating to those proceedings. In the meantime, other institutions are compiling materials related to the Trump inquiry, including the University of California, San Diego Library External.

Links to selected resources regarding various federal officers appear on their respective subpages, which can be found on the left-hand side of this page, under the menus titled "Presidents" and “Other Federal Officers.”

Getting Started: Basic Overview Resources

The resources listed here provide researchers with a basic overview of the topic of impeachment. The print materials listed below link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online resources are provided when available. The online resources include both Library of Congress and external websites for information about impeachment.