Representative Al Green shouts as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, March 4, 2025.
Win Mcnamee | Via Reuters
Since the American attack on Iran, Congressional Democrats and opponents of the president Donald Trump called the operation unconstitutional and vowed to rein in the president. But another impeachment — which the president says he fears if Democrats take back the House of Representatives — has not seriously entered the conversation.
That could change after the midterms if the party wins the House and Republicans lose their hold on both chambers of Congress as well as the White House. Trump knows he would be in the crosshairs of Democrats and has expressed his fear of a third impeachment to congressional Republicans, telling them they must win in November.
“If you’re going after him, you want to make sure you don’t miss him,” Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist who has worked on the Hill and for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, said in an interview.
House Democrats met last week to strategize for this year, meeting before the new war in Iran — which Trump started without seeking congressional approval — provided another potential reason for impeachment calls.
Impeachment tends to be unpopular with voters, and some Democrats worry that past attempts to rein in Trump have not been successful. resonated. He was impeached by the United States House of Representatives in 2019 over allegations that he withheld military aid to Ukraine to exert political pressure and in 2021 for his actions that led to the January 6, 2021 riots at the United States Capitol. Each time, the Senate voted to acquit.
But if Democrats win back the House, there will likely be serious pressure to impeach Trump a third time. No other president has been impeached twice.
“We are not afraid of impeachment or any other constitutional tool at our disposal, but we have learned that impeachment is not a panacea,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-R., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview before the Iran operation.
“It’s not a fetish with us, but it’s not a taboo either,” Raskin said. “If we think this will be the most effective way to respond to some of the crises in the republic unleashed by President Trump or certain members of his cabinet, then we will have to think about it.”
Read more about CNBC’s politics coverageSince any impeachment talk is purely symbolic, with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, Leopold said he doesn’t expect to see a wave of impeachment talk in the near term.
“You’ve seen some come out at different times, using the ‘I word’ usually as a sort of way to get attention,” Leopold said. “People especially want to see Democrats fight back in a way that has real impact. … Sometimes if you’re a football team, you want to pass the ball and get first downs instead of trying to throw a Hail Mary every play.”
Although the attack on Iran has not led to a deluge of new calls for impeachment, Democrats since Trump took office last year have threatened to impeach Trump for his term. 2025 strikes against Iranher ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro without the approval of Congress and for a recover a bag containing other suspected offenses.
Rep. Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, who as recently as Maduro’s ouster in January said she was “reconsidering” her view that pursuing impeachment was now unrealistic, has halted any similar efforts now.
“I don’t want to go. I think we’re focused on what’s going on in Iran,” Waters said Tuesday as she left a Trump administration briefing on the Iranian operation. “I think when we take control of the House, we will think about it.”
“Serious crimes and misdemeanors”Calls for impeachment have arisen on the campaign trail in recent days, foreshadowing what could be a contentious issue for Democrats in 2027.
In a crowded Democratic primary for Illinois’ open 9th Congressional District seat, three candidates called on Congress to impeach and remove Trump.
“The morally bankrupt Trump administration has joined forces with another morally bankrupt authoritarian to declare unprovoked war on Iran, already killing dozens of civilians,” said candidate Kat Abughazaleh. posted on BlueSky. “We need an immediate vote in Congress on a war powers resolution. Then articles of impeachment.”
Other Candidates Evanston, Illinois, Major Daniel K. Biss and state Senator Laura Fine also called for Trump’s impeachment.
Before the attack on Iran, Democratic leaders were considering how to effectively rein in Trump without drowning out other issues. Party leaders discussed prioritizing the message of affordability, the same issue Republicans want Trump to focus on this election year.
When Rep. Al Green of Texas introduced a resolution to impeach Trump in December, 140 Democrats voted against a motion to table the measure. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose leadership team chose not to take votes for the resolution, was one of 47 Democrats to vote “present,” neither supporting nor opposing the measure.
“What we tell our members and the candidates that are running is we have to do everything,” Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, Democrat of California, said at the Democratic political retreat last week. “We need to have oversight and accountability and we need to talk about the affordability agenda and how we’re going to improve people’s lives if we have the opportunity to lead and if we have the opportunity to govern.”
Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said at the retreat that a Democratic impeachment attempt was almost certain. The problem, she said, would be determining on what grounds to indict. Jeffries “is not going to settle for a free-for-all,” she said.
“I think the challenge would be to reduce serious crimes and misdemeanors. Because I think there are serious crimes and misdemeanors,” Ross said.
