Republicans are bracing for yet another effort by the Democratic party to oust the US president after next year’s midterm elections
US President Donald Trump’s advisers are reportedly preparing for the possibility of a third impeachment attempt if Democrats regain control of the lower house of Congress after the 2026 midterm elections, Axios reported on Tuesday.
During Trump’s first term, House Democrats impeached him twice – first in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and again in January 2021 for incitement of insurrection following the January 6 Capitol riot.
According to Axios, Trump’s pollster John McLaughlin has warned that another impeachment attempt is all but guaranteed if Republicans lose the House next year. “We cannot lose the midterms,” he said, stressing that the Republicans crucially need to pass Trump’s tax cuts in order to avoid a recession.
Republicans currently control the House, making any near-term impeachment effort unlikely to succeed. However, Democratic lawmakers are laying the groundwork for future action.
On Monday, Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan introduced seven articles of impeachment against Trump which include charges of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, usurpation of power, bribery, and corruption. Thanedar stated that Trump is “unfit to serve as President” and poses a “clear and present danger” to the US Constitution and democracy.
Earlier this month, Rep. Al Green from Texas, another Democrat, also vowed to begin impeachment proceedings against the US president within 30 days, insisting that Trump “does not deserve” to hold office.
Axios has reported that Republican strategists are now responding to the threat of future impeachment by accelerating efforts to pass Trump’s legislative priorities. Those include making the 2017 tax cuts permanent and implementing new tax relief measures ahead of the election cycle.
Under the US Constitution, the House of Representatives can impeach the president by a simple majority vote. If that happens, the Senate then holds a trial. Conviction and removal from office requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate – a threshold not met in either of Trump’s previous impeachments.
A Trump adviser told Axios that previous impeachments “did nothing” while the White House has repeatedly dismissed the Democratic efforts as politically motivated and ultimately ineffective.
