Five steps needed to land Trump in dire straits

Step one The House of Representatives committees currently leading the impeachment inquiry will continue to interview witnesses in the Ukraine scandal behind closed doors. All the committees are controlled by the Democrats. A number of additional US officials have already been lined up for testimony. John Bolton, the former national security adviser, has been asked to appear. No time frame for wrapping up this section, or any other, has been announced. Step two The

House intelligence committee will hold public hearings. The top Democrat and Republican will each get up to 90 minutes to question a witness, followed by five-minute grillings from other committee members. The most senior Republican can request new witnesses and subpoenas but only with approval from the Democrats. A report with findings and recommendactions will eventually be published.

Step three The House judiciary committee then takes the report and considers whether to bring articles of impeachment against Mr Trump. Possible articles that Democrats appear to be considering include abuse of power and obstruction of justice. The president and his lawyers can participate in this stage, though how exactly remains unclear.

Step four If articles of impeachment are recommended by the judiciary committee, then the whole of the House gets to vote on them. The House is one half of the US Congress, with members up for election every two years. Each article needs a simple majority to be passed. Only two presidents have ever been impeached by the House – Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. Richard Nixon resigned before a vote was held.

Step five If the House votes for impeachment, a trial and vote then takes place in the US Senate, the other half of Congress. The head of the supreme court would sit as the judge and the 100 senators would act like a jury. Two thirds of senators would need to vote for removal for Mr Trump to booted out. That means 67 senators voting for it. There are only 47 Democrats and independents, so at least 20 Republicans must rebel for it to pass. No president has ever been removed by the Senate.