Impeachment?

my question is Why is the Chief Justice, not the President of th Senate, presides over the impeachment trial of the President?|||The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the judicial branch of the government of the United States, and presides over the U.S. Supreme Court. The highest judicial officer in the country, the Chief Justice leads the business of the Supreme Court and presides over the Senate during impeachment trials of the President. In modern tradition, the Chief Justice also has the duty of administering the oath of office to the President, but this is not required by the Constitution or any other law.





The U.S. Constitution states that all justices of the Court "shall hold their offices during good behavior," meaning that the appointments only end when a justice dies in office, chooses to retire, or is impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate.





mpeachment trials





Article I, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice shall preside over impeachment trials of the President of the United States in the U.S. Senate. Two Chief Justices, Salmon P. Chase and William Rehnquist, have had the duty of presiding over the trial in the Senate that follows an impeachment of the President 鈥?Chase in 1868 over the proceedings of President Andrew Johnson and Rehnquist in 1999 over the proceedings against President Bill Clinton.





Further, the Chief Justice would preside over the impeachment trial of the Vice President if, under the terms of the 25th Amendment, the Vice President is serving as Acting President. However, no Vice President has been impeached (though Spiro Agnew resigned under threat of impeachment), and none has been Acting President for more than a few hours.|||I think Shilo's second answer is pretty accurate.





Originally, the Vice President was the runner-up in the Presidential election, rather than someone running for the office of Vice President itself. If the President was impeached, the Vice President could potentially misuse his power as President of the Senate to try to advance to the Presidency.|||Good question. in this case, the loser who should be impeached appointed the chief justice who would preside over the case. Bush is an expert criminal!! I hope he gets to give lessons in a Texas prison some day...even better, maybe an Iraq prison or even Iranian.





New president means a new direction for the justice department as well. Impeach Bush and Cheney!!!!!!|||1) Because the chief justice is a judge, and a judge should preside over a trial.





2) Because the president of the Senate is the Vice president of the United States and would be very biased during the trial.|||i'd prefer he meet up with the same fate as kennedy did. unfortunately its too late to matter at this point.