Help on US constitution stuff.

[chickenfeet]

President Bush has admitted to an extensive program of wiretap surveillance in the US. Many commentators have argued that this is unconstitutional and, therefore, presumably, illegal.

So what happens now? Normally the courts are the guardians of the constitution in the US but I'm not aware of any mechanism by which a case could be brought in a case like this.

The Senate (I think it's the Senate) could impeach him but no-one would expect the Senate to make its decision on legal and constitutional grounds. It would inevitably be a political decision based on the perceived merits or otherwise of the President's actions. This would pretty much negate the idea that, in part at least, the constitution exists to protect the individual from the tyranny of short term majorities.

In any event, doesn't a Bill of Impeachment require a two thirds majority? In which case the President plus 34 senators can break the constitution with impunity. Am I missing something here?

Please note, I'm not asking people to argue the political or constitutional case for or against wiretapping. The question I am interested in is "what redress is possible against a President who breaks the constitution?".

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

That's correct. The senate alone has the power to impeach the president and you need a 2/3 majority.

[eiramanit.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's not correct. The House of Representatives are the ones with the power to impeach. The Senate acts as the jury in the impeachment proceedings (i.e., they remove him from office or not).

This site gives a good description of the events...
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/u-s-presidency/u-s-constitution/195.html

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

So, all the president needs to ignore the constitution is a simple majority in the House OR 34 senators. Peachy!

[eiramanit.livejournal.com]

Well, to stay in office, yes. But I don't think that necessarily has anything to do with whether or not he faces criminal charges. The only reason Nixon didn't face criminal charges (or impeachment since he resigned before they could impeach) was because the new President Ford pardoned him.

But yes, it sucks that Bush probably won't have to answer for any of this. However, Cheney doesn't look so good as President either :(