The American government provides avenues on how to remove a U.S. president from office. These are the three primary reasons: criminal activity, inability to perform presidential duties and lack of party and public popularity.
Criminal Activity
One way to remove a U.S. president from office is through impeachment and consecutive conviction. This method is intended to be implemented should the president commit a crime. The president has the same rights of due process as any other legal defendant, and therefore must be indicted of an actual crime, which involves violating a law that was passed prior to him committing the crime.
The impeachment process requires agreement between both legislative bodies. The House of Representatives requires a simple majority, more than 50% of the vote, to impeach. The Senate requires a two-thirds majority.
Congress has impeached two presidents in the nation’s history. Congress impeached the 17th president, Andrew Johnson, after he replaced Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton with General Ulysses S. Grant because this violated the Tenure of Office Act.
Congress impeached the 42nd president Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice following Clinton’s testimony of his extramarital affair during a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by Arkansas state employee Paula Jones.
Congress did not convict Johnson nor Clinton, however, and they remained in office.
Inability to Perform Presidential Duties
Another enumerated power which facilitates the removal of a U.S. president is the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment allows the president to voluntarily step aside if he feels he may be physically or emotionally unable to perform presidential duties.
The amendment states the president’s cabinet may transfer the powers of the president to the vice president as determined by a majority vote. If the president challenges this decision, Congress determines whether to restore the president to power. In the absence of a two-thirds vote in both houses, the president returns to power. Congress has never fully implemented this method of removal.
This provision of the 25th Amendment, implemented as a safeguard should the president become unable to fulfill his duties, works as a contingency if the president becomes incapacitated or unable to resign. This provision also applies if the president is captured or kidnapped and unable to act or if concerns arise that the president may not be mentally able to continue his term.
Lack of Party and Public Popularity
Last but not least, the president could be denied a second term in one of two ways: by the president’s own party, should it choose to nominate someone else in the next presidential election, or by voters who contribute to the president’s loss in the next election.
Since World War II, three U.S. presidents have lost the election for their second term: presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush.
The government provides multiple avenues on how to remove a U.S. president from office. These account for the variety of circumstances which may warrant a removal.
– Casie Wilson
Photo: Flickr
How to Remove a US President from Office
The American government provides avenues on how to remove a U.S. president from office. These are the three primary reasons: criminal activity, inability to perform presidential duties and lack of party and public popularity.
Criminal Activity
One way to remove a U.S. president from office is through impeachment and consecutive conviction. This method is intended to be implemented should the president commit a crime. The president has the same rights of due process as any other legal defendant, and therefore must be indicted of an actual crime, which involves violating a law that was passed prior to him committing the crime.
The impeachment process requires agreement between both legislative bodies. The House of Representatives requires a simple majority, more than 50% of the vote, to impeach. The Senate requires a two-thirds majority.
Congress has impeached two presidents in the nation’s history. Congress impeached the 17th president, Andrew Johnson, after he replaced Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton with General Ulysses S. Grant because this violated the Tenure of Office Act.
Congress impeached the 42nd president Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice following Clinton’s testimony of his extramarital affair during a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by Arkansas state employee Paula Jones.
Congress did not convict Johnson nor Clinton, however, and they remained in office.
Inability to Perform Presidential Duties
Another enumerated power which facilitates the removal of a U.S. president is the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment allows the president to voluntarily step aside if he feels he may be physically or emotionally unable to perform presidential duties.
The amendment states the president’s cabinet may transfer the powers of the president to the vice president as determined by a majority vote. If the president challenges this decision, Congress determines whether to restore the president to power. In the absence of a two-thirds vote in both houses, the president returns to power. Congress has never fully implemented this method of removal.
This provision of the 25th Amendment, implemented as a safeguard should the president become unable to fulfill his duties, works as a contingency if the president becomes incapacitated or unable to resign. This provision also applies if the president is captured or kidnapped and unable to act or if concerns arise that the president may not be mentally able to continue his term.
Lack of Party and Public Popularity
Last but not least, the president could be denied a second term in one of two ways: by the president’s own party, should it choose to nominate someone else in the next presidential election, or by voters who contribute to the president’s loss in the next election.
Since World War II, three U.S. presidents have lost the election for their second term: presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush.
The government provides multiple avenues on how to remove a U.S. president from office. These account for the variety of circumstances which may warrant a removal.
– Casie Wilson
Photo: Flickr
How Syrian Refugee Families Saved a Village in Germany
As hostility and division in Germany have grown over the course of entering the nation, one village has remained untouched by the discourse.
Golzow is a small, yet famous, village on the German-Polish border. Film fans know it by a 42-hour documentary filmed over five decades, The Children of Golzow. In spite of the film’s success, the population of Golzow has decreased by 12% — down to 835 people. By March 2015, the school of Golzow couldn’t reach the number of students needed to hold class and had to be closed.
Nevertheless, mayor Frank Schütz had the solution: invite Syrian refugee families with primary school-age children to join the community of Golzow and donate to them the now-empty apartments. By helping those in need, Golzow’s need would be fulfilled as well.
The first family who accepted the invitation brought six school-age children with them. This allowed the school of Golzow to exceed the number of students necessary to keep it open. The mother recalled her family’s arrival, describing, “Everyone came to welcome us here with flowers. [Golzow] is very open, it’s a very small village and the people are very beautiful.” As the Syrians found a home, the school and the town found new life.
Other Syrian refugee families have followed in their footsteps. In February 2016, Golzow welcomed its third Syrian refugee family. Halima, her husband, and her children were able to act as Golzow’s very own unofficial translators between Arabic and German.
Since 2015, more than one million refugees have sought asylum in Germany. Unfortunately, after experiencing violence and economic hardship, the climate of the culture towards Syrian refugees has begun to sour. Today, as the once-warmly welcoming Germany is paying asylum seekers to return to their countries, Golzow serves as a reminder that those who stay have a purpose.
– Brenna Yowell
Photo: Flickr
Ten Deadly Wars
There is sufficient evidence to suggest that war causes and exacerbates poverty. It results in damage to infrastructure, breaks up communities and leads to the injury and death of countless people. Here is a list of 10 deadly wars that did just that:
According to the World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security and Development, “interstate and civil wars have declined since peaking in the early 1990s.” However, one in four people in this world still, “live in fragile and conflict-affected states or in countries with very high levels of criminal violence.” The 10 deadly wars listed here are an important part of history, but modern violence does not always come in the form of a typical war. Its consequences, though, are very much the same. It is essential for world leaders to recognize this change so they may effectively deal with the problem.
– Kristin Westad
Photo: Flickr
Averting Global Food Shortages with New Fertilizer
A team of scientists from Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom recently collaborated to study nanotechnology-based fertilizer delivery to crops. What they discovered has the potential to revolutionize farming worldwide, reduce environmental impact and mitigate future global food shortages.
The study, which was published in the Jan. 25, 2017 edition of American Chemical Society Nano (ACSNano), acknowledges that fertilizer prices in developing countries are substantial, and the costs often negatively impact food supply. Scientists determined that developing technology to reduce fertilizer costs was necessary, and began testing a trial fertilizer on rice farms in Sri Lanka.
The results were nothing short of impressive. Initial trials showed a 20% increase in production using about half the amount of fertilizer. These findings are a boon for future generations. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that crop production needs to increase by approximately 60% by 2050 in order to supply the world’s population and avoid global food shortages.
The Science Behind the Results
The scientists in this study didn’t reinvent the wheel. They focused their attention on urea, a common fertilizer. Although urea has been used for decades, it has major weaknesses. When urea comes in contact with water, it breaks down prematurely and cannot be efficiently absorbed by crops. Farmers then have to use more fertilizer — if they can afford it. Calling this issue a “major challenge for global agriculture” that “threatens future food security,” the team settled on a nanotechnology-based principle for fertilizer delivery. This method has wide applications in pharmaceutical delivery, and the scientists thought it showed promise.
The team combined Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles with urea to create nanohybrids. Then, they applied the mixture to crops at test farms. It pleased them to discover that the nanohybrid fertilizer decomposed the urea at a slower rate than urea alone. The scientists reported that they reduced the amount of fertilizer application by 50% while increasing crop yield by more than nine percent.
Larger Harvests with a Smaller Footprint
Money isn’t the only thing saved when nanohybrids are in play. Less fertilizer applied to crops means that less washes away into bodies of water, avoiding unnecessary pollution. Gehan Amaratunga, one of the scientists on the team, says “this goes a long way to reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture…It is a Green Revolution.”
– Gisele Dunn
Photo: Flickr
On Whether a US President Can Do Business in Office
President Trump has recently come under attack for allegedly breaking the emoluments clause of the Constitution by retaining ownership of The Trump Organization while holding the office of President of the United States. The organization has a stake in about 500 businesses in 20 countries. Opponents argue that the only way that Trump can truly enter office in compliance with the U.S. Constitution would be if he were to either sell The Trump Organization or put his assets into a blind trust. With the latter, he would have no updates on his organization’s fiscal information.
In response to the lawsuit, President Trump has promised to step down from The Trump Organization. He will put his two sons, Donald and Eric, in charge, along with one executive. No new deals with foreign countries will be made under Trump’s presidency and all new domestic deals will undergo a process of review by an ethics board to be appointed at a later date. Lastly, Trump has promised that all payments from foreign governments to Trump hotels will be donated to the U.S. Treasury.
Ethics lawyer Norman Eisen, who served as an advisor to Barack Obama, Richard Painter and George W. Bush, does not agree with Trump’s lawyer Sheri Dillon. Eisen specifically disagrees with the claim that Trump’s actions are sufficient enough to protect the country from foreign interests, reiterating his stance on whether a president can do business in Office. Eisen, along with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), has filed a lawsuit against Trump. They claim that he is still in violation of the constitutional foreign emoluments clause article I section 9 clause 8, which states that “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
Assistant Attorney General Samuel A. Alito, Jr. said in 1986 that the “answer to [an] Emoluments Clause question must depend [on] whether the [arrangement] would raise the kind of concern that motivated the Framers in enacting the constitutional prohibition.”
It will be up to the U.S. federal court system to decide whether The Trump Organization’s businesses abroad would fall under the category of unconstitutional. This will ultimately decide whether a president can do business in office.
– Josh Ward
Photo: Flickr
Seven Facts About Refugees from Sudan
For decades Sudan has faced prolonged civil war, violence between ethnic and political factions, droughts and famine as well as an inefficient distribution of international aid. This has resulted in the displacement of significant portions of the population. Here are seven facts about refugees from Sudan that highlight current hindrances and initiatives to improve their quality of life.
Although the displacement of vulnerable populations has been a persistent issue in Sudanese history for decades, international initiatives and foreign aid are working to improve the lives of refugees from Sudan.
– Casie Wilson
Photo: Flickr
Five Youngest Democratic Nations
In nations such as the United States, the concept of democracy is sacred as something that has existed for centuries and must be protected. But for many nations around the globe, democracy is a relatively new development. Here are five of some of the youngest democratic nations in the world:
Once an absolute monarchy in the Himalayan mountains, Bhutan transitioned into a democratic nation in 2008 when its people voted for the first time on the members of its new parliament. Since then, the country has become a constitutional monarchy, with Tshering Tobgay as its current prime minister.
Guinea endured decades of dictatorship before becoming a democratic nation. In 2010, Guinea followed in fellow West African nation Nigeria’s footsteps and had its first democratic election, won by Alpha Conde.
Democracy has had a tough time taking root in the Middle East, but Tunisia braved the transition in 2011 when the populace successfully rose up and unseated the dictatorship that was in place. Though off to a rocky start, Tunisians are poised to fight for democracy in their nation in the upcoming years.
After 50 years of military rule, the Burmese junta made way for a new civilian government in 2011, but it wasn’t until 2016 that citizens were able to vote for their first civilian president, Htin Kyaw.
The citizens of Burkina Faso didn’t have their first free and fair elections until November of 2015, making Burkina Faso among the youngest democratic nations in the world.
It’s easy for citizens of the United States to take democracy for granted, especially since it has been a central tenet of American life since the nation’s birth in the late 18th century. But for young democratic nations such as Burkina Faso and Tunisia, democracy is not a birthright, and the fight for it is far from over.
– Mary Grace Costa
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in Djibouti
The small nation of Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa, is only about 9,000 square miles and has a small population of about 820,000 people. Currently, poverty in Djibouti persists as a major problem with more than 23% of those 820,000 living in conditions described as extreme poverty.
Consistent food deficits caused by Djibouti’s harsh climate make agriculture harder here than in other areas of the continent. This creates a dependence on imports to feed the population and leaves the country especially disadvantaged by drought, floods and other natural disasters. Droughts leave an exceptionally long-lasting impact in the form of crop destruction and loss of livestock. In 2011, the U.N. reported that Djibouti’s ranchers lost 70-80% of their livestock during a period in which food prices also rose 50%.
These increasing rates of malnourishment have led many to migrate away from rural areas to the capital in search of work. Today, around two-thirds of the population is condensed in Djibouti City, leaving a small percentage to farm. These factors culminate into mass poverty in Djibouti and need direct solutions as well as continued foreign support to combat. Many in Djibouti must concentrate what little income they earn towards food and basic survival at the expense of health and education. Those in the Garabtisan Village must walk 23 kilometers just to fetch water for the village, many surviving on 40 liters for up to three days at a time.
Despite its plethora of issues and dependence on foreign aid, Djibouti’s geographical position as a trade gateway to Ethiopia has spurred some economic opportunities. The International Monetary Fund estimates that real GDP increased during 2015-2016 by around 6.5%, but continued support is needed to continue this positive trend into the future. Efficient infrastructure development, political stability, and natural disaster relief remain crucial to Djibouti’s continued growth. Suffering has been alleviated by efforts such as the U.N. raising $17.4 million in response to the 2011 drought, the World Food Programme providing emergency food aid to 61,000 rural farmers and $1 million from UNICEF for Djibouti’s children.
Continued economic growth may provide more paths out of poverty and consistent foreign assistance from countries around the world can, one day, end poverty in Djibouti. Reaching out to U.S. members of Congress for continued USAID support can go a long way in giving millions the opportunities needed to become self-sufficient. Each and every person in the United States possesses the power to speak out for what matters, ending human suffering around the globe.
– Aaron Walsh
Photo: Flickr
What Are the Criteria for Impeaching a President?
Article two, section four of the U.S. Constitution states that a president may be removed from office through the process of impeachment “for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Formal criteria for impeaching a president begins in the House of Representatives and is delegated among the House Judiciary Committee. If the House Judiciary Committee finds an appropriate reason for bringing formal charges against the president, a vote is taken within the House requiring a single vote for approval.
Once approved, the House Judiciary Committee gathers all evidence and witness testimony necessary for an inquiry. The Committee Counsel, the Minority Committee and the House Judiciary Committee carry out witness interrogations, then prepare articles of impeachment detailing the offenses. Committees then cast a final vote and deliver results to the House for deliberation. If the articles of impeachment reach approval, the president is indicted and a motion for trial goes to the Senate.
During an impeachment trial, the Senate serves as the jury, with the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice presiding. Members of Congress are appointed as managers, or prosecutors. Successful impeachment is decided by a two-thirds majority vote from the Senate, thus removing the sitting president from office and replacing him with the vice president.
Impeaching a president requires thorough deliberation by Congress, though what definitively constitutes an impeachable offense is questionable. Congressman Gerald Ford (1970) described an impeachable offense as “whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.” The complexity of impeachment explains why only three presidents — Johnson (1868), Nixon (1974) and Clinton (1998) — have gone through impeachment proceedings.
Congress structured the criteria for impeaching a president so that a sitting president can be held accountable for their actions. Following the election season and recent presidential inauguration, President Trump is facing extensive scrutiny regarding looming lawsuits, foreign business deals and the withholding of federal tax returns. However, to date, there is no evidence that impeachment proceedings will be pursued.
– Amy Williams
Photo: Flickr
Digital Humanitarianism: Using Big Data
Humanity is currently producing more data annually than in the rest of human history combined. This data is created all throughout our daily lives, from using mobile phones and social media to just shopping. If analyzed correctly, this information can be used to answer many questions and provide new insights. This massive volume of information is known as Big Data. Big Data is increasingly being used in the humanitarian sector, in a growing movement known as digital humanitarianism.
There are several benefits to using Big Data in humanitarian responses. The most prominent benefit is having access to real-time information, which means that organizations can make more informed decisions by adjusting and adapting plans as the environment changes. Additionally, access to multiple sources increases the reliability of the information.
Big Data can likewise be used to anticipate humanitarian crises. By monitoring sources, patterns and trends, potential crises can be detected and averted. These systems can also be used to improve future preparedness by warning people and seeking their direct feedback.
Several prominent humanitarian organizations like Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the U.N. Refugee Agency and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have units working on new technologies in their specific fields.
OCHA, for instance, runs several programs that digitize humanitarian data to make it more readily available. This includes ReliefWeb, a website that provides 24-hour coverage of disasters, conflicts and crises for the international aid community, and the Digital Humanitarian Network, which uses digital networks to support humanitarian response.
This year, OCHA will also open the Centre for Humanitarian Data, the goal of which is to increase the use and impact of data in the humanitarian sector.
However, most humanitarian organizations do not have the staff and resources to cope with the amount of data generated in crisis situations. They thus rely on online activists using crowdsourcing and open source software like Ushahidi and Open Street Maps to map crises. These activists are also part of digital humanitarianism.
Crisis mapping by means of digital humanitarianism is becoming a standard tool in crisis response and has proven useful in several recent events including the 2010 earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the 2011 uprisings in Libya, the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
One of the suggested ways to use Big Data in the humanitarian sector is to improve the sharing of information between communities in need and those who aim to help them. Big Data and increased connectivity allow humanitarian organizations to better understand where to target humanitarian assistance.
– Helena Kamper
Photo: Flickr