Impeachment is regularly talked about these days. It is important to understand what this means. The following is a brief summary of the impeachment process.

The House Judiciary Committee decides whether or not to proceed with impeachment. If they do...

The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee will propose a Resolution calling for the Judiciary Committee to begin a formal inquiry into the issue of impeachment.

Based on their inquiry, the Judiciary Committee will send another Resolution to the full House stating that impeachment is warranted and why (the Articles of Impeachment), or that impeachment is not called for.

The Full House (probably operating under special floor rules set by the House Rules Committee) will debate and vote on each Article of Impeachment.

Should any one of the Articles of Impeachment be approved by a simple majority vote, the President will be "impeached."

The Articles of Impeachment are received from the House.

The Senate formulates rules and procedures for holding a trial.

A trial will be held. The President will be represented by his lawyers. A select group of House members will serve as "prosecutors." The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (currently John G. Roberts) will preside with all 100 Senators acting as the jury.

The Senate will meet in private session to debate a verdict.

The Senate, in open session, will vote on a verdict. A 2/3 vote of the Senate will result in a conviction.

The Senate will vote to remove the President from office.

The Senate may also vote (by a simple majority) to prohibit the President from holding any public office in the future.