Belknap impeachment (1876)
Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached by the House on corruption charges, then resigned the same day. The Senate tried him anyway and acquitted, though a majority of senators voted guilty, falling short of the required two-thirds.
Belknap returned to private life; the Senate declared him acquitted on all counts.
No Cabinet official has been impeached since. The 1876 case remains the sole precedent for Cabinet-level impeachment, including its unresolved question of whether resignation ends jurisdiction.
Massie's resolution is the first Cabinet impeachment since Belknap, exactly 150 years later. Both target the nation's top military official, the Secretary of War.
