Impeachment is not a legal mechanism. It is a political act. The founders intentionally employed the catch-all phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” to give guardians of the American experiment leeway for holding presidents, vice presidents, Cabinet members and other errant officials to account. An impeached official is not charged by a prosecutor and tried in the courts; nor is he or she jailed or fined if found guilty. An impeached official is charged by the House of Representatives, tried by the Senate, and removed from office if convicted.

This is a sufficient remedy, as the point of impeachment is to protect the republic, preserve the rule of law, maintain proper checks and balances, and respect the U.S. Constitution.

Congressman Mark Pocan, D-town of Vermont, recognizes these basic premises of the American experiment. And as he has begun talking about impeachment, Pocan has spoken, as every member of Congress should, with an eye toward “keeping open every option for getting this administration to function like any other administration in the past — Democrat or Republican.”

“Clearly,” Pocan told the House earlier this month, “one of those remedies is the power of impeachment.”