Jordan Berman

The second cited violation of the public trust and the third cited self-dealing.

Since their introduction, and more so since the Alex Pretty shooting, more lawmakers have signed on.

More than 160 House Democrats have signed on to the impeachment resolution.

And on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Catherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar released this joint statement that basically said Secretary Noem should be fired immediately, and if she wasn't fired, they would commence impeachment proceedings.

And I should note here that it's not just Democrats that are calling for for Noem's termination.

I mean, it's it's mostly Democrats, but there are a few Republicans to Republican senators.

Tom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski have both issued statements stating that Noem's actions in Minnesota warrant her immediate removal from the president's cabinet.

So following this criticism, the president held a meeting at the White House with Secretary Noem, along with Noem's top aide, the White House chief of staff, the press secretary and the communications director.

We don't know exactly what was discussed at that meeting.

But when Trump was asked by reporters whether Noem would step down, he replied, quote, No, I think she's doing a very good job.

The border is totally secure.

You know, you forget we had a border that I inherited where millions of people were coming through.

Now we have a border where no one is coming through.

They come into our country only legally, end quote.

So as of right now, it does not seem like Noem is going to be fired, which presumably means, according to these Democratic lawmakers, that impeachment proceedings will commence.

So let's talk a little bit about what impeachment would look like, starting with the basics.

Under the Constitution, the House has the sole power to charge a federal officer with impeachment, right?

The impeachment process applies to what the Constitution refers to as civil officers, which includes executive branch officials, judges, the president, the vice president.

And typically when the process starts, when articles of impeachment are drafted, the articles of impeachment lay out the specific allegations or the specific charges that are being brought against the official facing impeachment.

Once the articles are drafted, the full House can vote on them.