Season 2, Episode 14 | High Crimes or Political Fights? When Impeachment Becomes a Constitutional Battleground

When we hear “impeachment,” most of us immediately think: the President. But what if that’s only part of the story? In this episode of This Constitution, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Matthew Brogdon explore the lesser-known history of impeaching cabinet secretaries and other executive officials, revealing how the process has always been more political than legal.

They revisit the case of Secretary of War William Belknap, who resigned in tears in 1876, hoping to dodge impeachment—only to face it anyway. Fast-forward to 2024, and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is at the center of a modern-day controversy that reopens the same unresolved questions. Can officials be impeached after they’ve left office? What actually qualifies as a “high crime or misdemeanor”? And who decides?

Through historical case studies, sharp legal insight, and a few surprising turns (including George Washington daring Congress to impeach him), this episode digs into how impeachment functions as a tool of accountability—and a reflection of the political moment.

If you think impeachment is just about criminal wrongdoing, think again. This conversation will shift how you view one of the Constitution’s most powerful and misunderstood mechanisms.

In This Episode

• (00:13) Introduction and overview
• (00:59) Impeachment process and constitutional ambiguity
• (02:52) Impeaching former officials: The Belknap case
• (05:32) Impeachment after resignation: Nixon and precedents
• (07:50) Trump’s second impeachment and unresolved legal questions
• (08:21) Senate jurisdiction and the Blount case
• (11:30) Defining high crimes and misdemeanors: Johnson’s impeachment
• (13:07) Political vs. legal grounds for impeachment
• (15:23) Impeachment standards for judges vs. executives
• (16:12) Early impeachment threats: Washington and the Jay Treaty
• (17:39) Modern debates: Mayorkas's impeachment and political disputes
• (19:19) Impeachment responsibility: Cabinet secretaries vs. presidents
• (22:32) Impeachment as a congressional tool
• (23:16) Impeachment’s political nature and checks and balances
• (24:36) Impeachment vs. criminal prosecution
• (27:05) Conclusion: Impeachment’s role in American government

Notable Quotes

• (00:43) "When it comes to executive impeachments, we have a history of failed impeachments." — Savannah
• (03:01) "Can you impeach former government officials? The Constitution does not tell us... This is something that had to be figured out in the moment that it became an issue." — Savannah 
• (05:10) "I just hope at some point in my life I can find an occasion to look at an office holder and say, you have prostituted your high office out of a lust for private gain." — Matthew
• (06:43) "Impeachment is not just about removing people from office. It's also about the possibility of excluding them or disqualifying them from future office holding." — Matthew 
• (17:05) "Washington was saying, impeach me if you think I can't be trusted and I violated the public interest in negotiating this treaty." — Matthew 
• (26:29) "One use for impeachment is to remove a president so that he can be successfully criminally charged." — Savannah 
• (27:07) "Impeachment is a tool in the checks and balances toolbox when it comes to working out disputes between the branches." — Matthew