How many House votes are required to impeach a president for the 2025-26 Congress?

1. What “simple majority” legally means for impeachment

The statutory and procedural phrase used by House and government guides is “simple majority,” which the federal government summarizes as the requirement for the House to adopt articles of impeachment by more votes in favor than opposed (a plurality among those voting) rather than a supermajority requirement ^[1]. Scholarly and reference sources explain that the House’s impeachment power, unlike conviction in the Senate, is governed by Article I of the Constitution and subsequent House practice, and the House has repeatedly treated adoption of articles as a simple-majority decision ^{[2] [5]}.

2. The practical arithmetic in a 435-member chamber

In ordinary circumstances where all 435 seats are filled and a quorum is present, a simple majority translates into 218 affirmative votes; that is the arithmetic baseline most observers use when discussing how many House votes are “required” to impeach ^[2]. That arithmetic can shift if there are vacancies, sick or absent members, or a block of members voting “present” rather than “yea” or “nay,” because the controlling standard is majority of those voting, not a fixed headcount of 218 in every possible configuration ^{[2] [4]}.

3. How recent 119th Congress votes illustrate the rule

The 119th Congress’ floor activity shows the rule in action: a June 24, 2025 motion related to H.Res.537 and a December 11, 2025 motion to table H.Res.939 were recorded as votes where the simple-majority standard governed the outcome; the official Clerk roll calls and govtrack record these as “Simple Majority Required” actions and show tallies that reflect the majority standard ^{[3] [6] [4]}. Those recorded votes also demonstrate how strategic uses of motions (for example, motions to table) and members’ choices to vote “present” affect the effective number needed to prevail ^[4].

4. Limits of the House role and the Senate’s separate threshold

While the House’s vote to impeach only requires a simple majority, the Constitution makes clear that removal from office is a separate step in the Senate and requires a two‑thirds majority to convict—an important counterpoint that often gets conflated with the House threshold ^[5]. Lawfare and other constitutional analysts also note that the House can organize inquiries and hearings without a formal floor authorization, but the act of adopting articles of impeachment on the floor still rests on the simple-majority rule ^[7].

5. Political context matters as much as the math

Numbers are necessary but not sufficient: committee gatekeeping, leadership control of the floor, and strategic procedural moves—such as refusing to bring articles to the floor or using tabling motions—shape whether an impeachment resolution ever reaches a decisive House vote or succeeds there, as members of Congress and campaign statements in 2025 make plain ^{[8] [9]}. Public statements and advocacy groups highlight that shifts in support, present votes, or leadership decisions can change both the pathway and the ultimate arithmetic of an impeachment effort even when the legal requirement is only a simple majority ^[10].

6. Bottom line and what the sources show

The documentary record from government guidance and House roll calls in the 119th Congress confirms the baseline rule: the House needs a simple majority of votes cast to impeach a president; in a full House that normally means at least 218 “yea” votes, but that figure changes with absences, vacancies, and “present” votes, and Senate conviction remains a separate, two-thirds requirement ^{[1] [2] [5] [3]}.