Editing Vice President of the United States (section)

==== Presiding over impeachment trials ====
In their capacity as president of the Senate, the vice president may preside over most [[Federal impeachment trial in the United States|impeachment trials of federal officers]], although the Constitution does not specifically require it. However, whenever the president of the United States is on trial, the Constitution requires that the [[chief justice of the United States]] must preside. This stipulation was designed to avoid the possible conflict of interest in having the vice president preside over the trial for the removal of the one official standing between them and the presidency.<ref name=A1trial>{{cite web| last=Gerhardt| first=Michael J.| title=Essays on Article I: Trial of Impeachment| url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/17/trial-of-impeachment| work=Heritage Guide to the Constitution| publisher=The Heritage Foundation| access-date=October 1, 2019| archive-date=August 22, 2020| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200822232208/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/%23!/amendments/8/essays/161/cruel-and-unusual-punishment#!/articles/1/essays/17/trial-of-impeachment| url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast, the Constitution is silent about which federal official would preside were the vice president on trial by the Senate.<ref name=24KJLPP1/><ref>{{Cite journal| title=Can the Vice President preside at his own impeachment trial?: A critique of bare textualism| last=Goldstein| first=Joel K.| url=https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=392001104070027081022120029066016007014068057063028037092012019031105007127000116031006037049124106003039080094094007065105089046016030083072001069104126069096114087051008094092074006002100029126100108126094011105105076101115026002005094084099102090074&EXT=pdf| year=2000| volume=44| journal=Saint Louis University Law Journal| pages=849–870| access-date=September 30, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114195031/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3297261| archive-date=January 14, 2021| url-status=live}}</ref> No vice president has ever been impeached, thus leaving it unclear whether an impeached vice president could, as president of the Senate, preside at their own impeachment trial.