Thomas Massie explode on House floor, starts naming names

[kst]

36. No, that's not how impeachment works

"If Nixon had been impeached Gerald Ford his VP would also be out of office."

That's incorrect. If Nixon had been impeached and convicted, he would have been removed from office and Gerald Ford would have become President.

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says:

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.

Some people have misinterpreted the word "all" to imply that removing a President automatically removes the entire administration. What it really means is that the President, Vice President, and all civil officers are potentially subject to impeachment, conviction, and removal. Each impeachment proceeding applies to one and only one person.

Only the individual person who is convicted is removed from office.

Perhaps "each" would have been clearer than "all". But think about it logically. Would the authors of the Constitution really have wanted an entire administration to be automatically removed due to high crimes and misdemeanors committed by one person? That would have been absurd -- and if it had been the intent, it would have been expressed more clearly.