Paths to 2027 · Federal adventure
Choose your own adventure, but make it constitutional.
What would have to become true for impeachment and removal to become possible — and which of those conditions can voters influence before the 2026 election?
State Power is paused while this federal adventure is developed. Its research and map infrastructure are preserved.
There is more power in a congressional ballot than many voters realize. Start with what is true now. This page does not predict what Congress will do.
Where we are now
These are current institutional facts, verified separately from the durable constitutional rules below.
Donald J. Trump
The President leads the executive branch. This is a current fact, not a prediction about any future path.
The current administration identifies President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
JD Vance
The Vice President is a separate constitutional office and is first in the ordinary line of succession.
The current administration identifies President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
The statute places the Speaker before the president pro tempore and Cabinet officers in the statutory succession order. The Speaker and president pro tempore must resign their congressional offices before acting as President. The Cabinet order runs from Secretary of State through Secretary of Homeland Security. Each officer in the statutory line must be constitutionally eligible to serve as President.
Mike Johnson
House members choose the Speaker. The Speaker is a congressional officer, not a nationally elected executive official.
The House elected Mike Johnson Speaker for the 119th Congress.
The House chooses its Speaker.
Chuck Grassley
This Senate officer can become relevant in the statutory succession order only after earlier offices cannot act.
Chuck Grassley was sworn in as President pro tempore for the 119th Congress.
The statute places the Speaker before the president pro tempore and Cabinet officers in the statutory succession order. The Speaker and president pro tempore must resign their congressional offices before acting as President. The Cabinet order runs from Secretary of State through Secretary of Homeland Security. Each officer in the statutory line must be constitutionally eligible to serve as President.
Republican majority
As of the October 25, 2026 inspection, the Clerk's October 1 roster and current vacancy tracker show a Republican majority, with vacancies in Florida's 20th and Texas's 23rd districts. The seat snapshot is time-bound; any impeachment vote still depends on a majority of the House voting to impeach.
The Clerk's October 1, 2026 Official List of Members reports 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one Independent, and two vacancies (Florida 20 and Texas 23), establishing Republican House control. The Clerk's current vacancy tracker was rechecked October 25 and still identifies Florida 20 and Texas 23 as vacant; its entries show the filled Georgia 13th as succeeded August 25 and sworn September 1.
100 seats filled: 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, 2 Independents
The official Senate roster lists no vacancies. Separately supported caucus affiliations are 53 in the Republican Conference and 47 in the Democratic Conference, including Independents Angus King and Bernie Sanders. The Senate identifies Republicans as the majority party in this snapshot. Party and caucus counts do not predict individual votes or future outcomes; officeholder and control facts were separately rechecked at the October 25 publication cutoff.
The official current roster was inspected October 20, 2026 and lists one serving senator for each of the 100 seats: 53 Republican, 45 Democratic, and 2 Independent party labels, with no vacant seats. The linked 100-seat reconciliation records state, class, name, party, source codes, and inspection date. The roster's party label does not itself establish conference/caucus affiliation for an Independent senator.
The Senate describes members belonging to the two major parties as organized into their respective party conferences (also called caucuses); this general description does not identify an Independent senator's conference.
The current Democratic Caucus roster inspected October 20, 2026 lists Angus King and Bernie Sanders as members; their Democratic Conference affiliation is supported separately from their Independent party labels.
The Senate Daily Press page dated July 14, 2026 states that Senators King and Sanders caucus with Democrats for organizational purposes. This is a dated corroborating statement, not the October 20 seat roster.
November 3, 2026
Federal law sets the regular House election date. It does not set state-specific voter-registration deadlines, early-voting periods, absentee/mail ballot rules, or ballot-return and receipt deadlines. Check your state and local election office for those rules.
Federal general elections are held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.
States and territories administer elections differently; voters should check state and local election offices for current registration information, voting options, and timelines.
All House seats are elected every two years
Voters elect House members directly. Those members then choose the Speaker at the start of a new Congress.
House members are chosen every second year.
The House chooses its Speaker.
The basic rulebook
Every House seat is elected every two years. At the beginning of a new Congress, those Representatives choose the Speaker.
The constitutional term for that formal accusation is impeachment. Impeachment alone does not remove anyone from office.
The Senate holds the trial and votes whether to convict. The constitutional rule is two-thirds of Senators present, not a permanently fixed number.
The House can formally accuse the President, Vice President, or another federal official. The Senate then holds a separate trial. Removal happens only after a Senate conviction or another event that creates a vacancy, such as resignation.
The House has the constitutional role in impeachment. A House impeachment vote is distinct from Senate removal.
The Senate tries impeachments. Conviction requires two-thirds of Senators present.
The President and Vice President are separately subject to impeachment and removal.
The Representatives voters elect choose the Speaker. That gives a House ballot an indirect connection to chamber leadership, committees, oversight, and what can reach a House vote.
The House chooses its Speaker.
House members are chosen every second year.
If vacancies happen
If the Vice President's office becomes vacant, the President may nominate a replacement. That person takes office only after approval by both the House and Senate.
If neither the President nor Vice President can discharge the powers and duties of the office, 3 U.S.C. § 19 sets a conditional statutory order of officers who may act as President. The first five positions in that order are shown below; this is not a prediction or a statement about who would act in a future event. A Speaker must resign as Speaker and Representative before acting. If there is no Speaker or the Speaker fails to qualify, the President pro tempore may act after resigning as president pro tempore and Senator. A Cabinet officer is reached only if no president pro tempore can act, and must be constitutionally eligible, appointed with Senate consent before the triggering event, and not under impeachment by the House when the powers and duties devolve.
The President may nominate a replacement after a vice-presidential vacancy. A replacement Vice President requires approval by both houses of Congress.
The statute places the Speaker before the president pro tempore and Cabinet officers in the statutory succession order. The Speaker and president pro tempore must resign their congressional offices before acting as President. The Cabinet order runs from Secretary of State through Secretary of Homeland Security. Each officer in the statutory line must be constitutionally eligible to serve as President.
Read the labels
Current fact A fact about who holds an office or how a chamber is currently composed.
Established law A constitutional or statutory rule with a source.
Political possibility An outcome that depends on future votes or choices, not a guarantee.
Legally untested A question with no settled answer presented here. For example, House history says a Speaker need not be a Member, but this project does not claim that a hypothetical non-member Speaker could act as President under the succession statute.
House historical material states that every Speaker has been, but is not required to be, a House Member.
The statute places the Speaker before the president pro tempore and Cabinet officers in the statutory succession order. The Speaker and president pro tempore must resign their congressional offices before acting as President. The Cabinet order runs from Secretary of State through Secretary of Homeland Security. Each officer in the statutory line must be constitutionally eligible to serve as President.