Should President Trump be removed from office via impeachment process? [ONLINE]

We will be trying a new debate format this time:

We will first take an initial vote on the motion: Yes/No/Abstain. Then, two Zoom breakout rooms will be opened up: the "Yes" voters will be sent to one room, and the "No" voters to the other room. Abstainers can stay in the main Zoom room and perhaps discuss what questions they want to ask each side. Meanwhile, the people in each breakout room will come up with, say, 4 main points in support of their side, or whatever other way that they want to present their case in 6 minutes. They can choose one person to give the whole presentation for their side, or some or all of them can take turns. Their choice! Just as long as their presentation won't exceed the time limit. If you have some relevant images, charts, slides, or even short videos, then you can suggest them to your breakout roommates for screen sharing to be used in your side's presentation.

Starting at 7:30, the breakout rooms will shut down, and we'll hear the 6-minute presentation by the "Yes" side, followed by the 6-minute presentation by the "No" side.
Then we'll have our usual moderated floor debate, where everyone will have an opportunity to speak (and is encouraged to do so), up to 2 minutes at a time, but no one is required to speak.

At around 8:30, we'll hear 3-minute closing statements by speakers designated by each side, followed by a final vote on the motion.

Tonight's motion:
President Trump should be removed from office via the impeachment process.

Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. constitution reads:
"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Article I specifies that the House of Representatives "shall have the sole Power of Impeachment", but then, in order for an impeached official to be removed, "The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. ... And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present."

The list of presidents who have been impeached by the House is short:

1. Andrew Johnson in 1868;
2. Bill Clinton in 1998;
3. Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021.

But none of these impeachments resulted in removal from office, because the Senate did not give a 2/3 vote in favor.

On April 26, 2026, Rep. John Larson (D-CT), introduced H.Res. 1155: Impeaching Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors, drafted by Ralph Nader. It makes the case for impeachment in 13 articles, with these headings:

1. war power-murder-piracy
2. militarization of domestic law enforcement
3. serial unconstitutional detentions and deportations
4. retaliation against constitutionally protected speech or association
5. abuse of the pardon power—sabotaging the rule of law
6. illegally crippling or defunding programs to protect consumers, the needy, workers, and the environment
7. usurpation of the congressional power of the purse
8. contempt of Congress—secret government
9. perverting law enforcement to persecute political opponents and benefit friends
10. suspending or dispensing with laws
11. flouting section 1 of the fourteenth amendment
12. specious national emergency—foreign terrorist organization declarations
13. domestic and foreign emoluments clauses

Currently, Republicans hold a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. To this writer's knowledge, no Republican member of the House has spoken publicly in favor of impeaching the president at this time. And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in an interview on June 2 that he's as yet undecided about starting impeachment proceedings even if his party gains a majority after the November elections: "We haven’t ruled anything in; we haven’t ruled anything out."
But these statements or non-statements should not deter us at SFDebate from giving both Republican and Democratic members of Congress our advice on whether or not they should impeach President Trump and remove him from office.

To be technical about it: Do you want the House of Representatives to exercise its power of impeachment to impeach President Trump, and then the Senate to exercise its power to remove him from office by convicting him of the impeachment?

Links to the announcements of related previous debates we've had:

1. "Motion: Trump Must Be Removed from Office through Impeachment" (January 7, 2019);
2. "This House Supports the Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden" (October 18, 2023).

Our meeting will be conducted on Zoom. The Zoom link will be visible here on the event page before the event to those who RSVP. It's your choice if you want to turn on your camera or not, but people who can be seen are often more persuasive.