Does the senate serve as the jury in impeachment proceedings? or the house of representatives?

Question

Does the senate serve as the jury in impeachment proceedings? or the house of representatives?

Answer 1

The Senate becomes the jury. The House impeaches (requiring only a majority of members to vote an article of impeachment.) There usually is a committee of the House that hears the evidence preliminarily, and votes whether or not to draft and recommend articles of impeachment to the full House. That is like an indictment. But the US Senate acts as the jury. In the case of an impeachment of the president, the Chief Justice acts as a trial judge; but, since the members of the Senate set up the rules of evidence and procedure, they can overrule his rulings (although they would seldom do so.) It requires a 2/3rds vote of the members voting to convict.

In the impeachment of a lesser figure than the president, the Senate may set up a committee to act as a trial jury in an impeachment hearing.  (occasionally, it has been the Senate Judiciary Committee, for the impeachment of a Federal judge (which has been the most common impeachment trial in our history.)