As Republicans ask voters to remember that President Donald Trump's enemies have a penchant for trying to impeach the commander in chief, Democrats reportedly differ on how to deal with the issue heading into the midterms.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., this month told the Shreveport Times that Democrats would impeach Trump for a third time if they win a House majority in the 2026 elections.
The National Republican Congressional Committee recently released a digital ad saying Democrats' "Project 2026" aims to "impeach President Trump."
But while GOP officials don't mind bringing up the possibility of impeachment, many Democrats are more hesitant.
"We should never, at least in the near future, use the 'I' word," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., Politico reported.
"One of the things we learned is that articles of impeachment are also articles of recruitment for Trump."
Biting their tongues on impeachment might be difficult for some Democrats.
"There will be some emotional members who want to grab headlines with impeachment, however [House Democratic] leadership has thus far shown that it's not a tool in our box," a source close to House leadership told Politico.
Some Democrats, though, sound as if they haven't permanently shelved the idea of impeachment.
"Of course impeachment is a tool of the Congress that should always be available and appropriate," said Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, who also chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. "But right now, I think we're in a stage where we're trying ... this case out in the court of public opinion before we do anything else."
Trump twice faced articles of impeachment during the final two years of his first term, when Democrats owned control of the House. The first involved the president's "perfect" phone call to Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy, and the second stemmed from Jan. 6, 2021.
Both impeachment attempts ended in Trump being acquitted by a Republican-led Senate.
Just two months ago, the House overwhelmingly voted to defer acting on a resolution introduced by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, that called for the impeachment of Trump.
The Hill reported that 128 Democrats joined Republicans in a 344-79 vote to set aside Green's demand that Trump deserved impeachment as a "threat to American democracy" for ordering military strikes against Iran.
Progressives have been pressuring their fellow Democrats to try and impeach Trump, while more centrist members of the party are dismissing the move as futile and counterproductive, NBC News reported last month.
"They're massively unhelpful, and they just fire up the base," said one moderate House Democrat who opposed the recent impeachment efforts that have split the party.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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