While no president has been impeached and convicted in our country’s history, impeachment has been used in the past to temper presidential power. As our country has become more polarized, the usefulness of impeachment as both a deterrent and as a check on executive authority has been put into question. This is, in large part, due to the failure of Congress to unite around impeachment. Because Congress is our most democratic institution, issues within Congress generally speak more broadly to issues within our country. Currently, our country is too polarized to reach a political consensus, even after an armed insurrection. Moreover, impeachment has been weakened by its continued exploitation by both parties in Congress. Without an effective impeachment tool, Congress will have to rethink its checks on the executive branch.

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