Democrats tread cautiously around another Trump impeachment after ‘illegal’ Iran strikes

Since the U.S. attack on Iran, congressional Democrats and opponents of 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 retake the U.S. House — hasn’t seriously entered the conversation.

That may change post-midterms if the party wins the House and Republicans lose their grip on both chambers of Congress plus the White House. Trump knows he would be in Democratic crosshairs and has expressed fear of a third impeachment to congressional Republicans, telling them to they need to win in November.

“If you swing at him, you want to make sure that you don’t miss,” Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist who has worked on the Hill and for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, said in an interview.

House Democrats convened last week to hash out strategy for this year, meeting before the new Iran war — which Trump began without seeking congressional approval — gave another potential grounds to seek impeachment.

Impeachment tends to be unpopular with voters, and there is concern in some Democratic corners that past attempts to rein-in Trump have not resonated. He was impeached by the U.S. House in 2019 over allegations that he withheld military aid to Ukraine to exert political pressure and in 2021 over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2020 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Both times 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’re not afraid of impeachment or any other constitutional tool in our arsenal, but we have learned that impeachment is no panacea,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview before the operation in Iran. 

“It’s not a fetish with us, but it’s also not a taboo with us,” Raskin said. “If we think that this will be the most effective way to address some of the crises of the republic that have been unleashed by President Trump or particular members of his cabinet, then it will have to be considered.”

Given that any talk of impeachment is purely symbolic with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate, Leopold said he did not expect to see any groundswell of impeachment talk in the short term.

“You’ve seen some come out at various points, using the ‘I word’ usually as sort of an attention seeking device,” Leopold said. “People mostly want to see Democrats fight back in a way that has real world impact. … Sometimes if you’re a football team, you want to hand the ball off and get first downs instead of trying to go for a Hail Mary every play.”

While the Iran attack didn’t bring a deluge of new impeachment calls, Democrats since Trump retook office last year have threatened to impeach Trump over his 2025 strikes on Iran, his ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro without congressional approval and for a grab bag of other alleged offenses. 

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who as recently as the Maduro ouster in January had said she was “reconsidering” her view that pursuing impeachment now was unrealistic, put the kibosh on any similar effort now.

“I don’t want to go there. I think that we’re focused on what is happening in Iran,” Waters said Tuesday as she left a Trump administration briefing on the Iran operation. “I think when we take control of the House we will consider that.”

Calls for impeachment have cropped up on the campaign trail in recent days, potentially previewing 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 for Congress to impeach and remove Trump.

“The morally bankrupt Trump administration has partnered with another morally bankrupt authoritarian to declare an unprovoked war on Iran, already killing scores of civilians,” candidate Kat Abughazaleh posted on BlueSky. “We need an immediate vote from Congress on a War Powers Resolution. Then articles of impeachment.”

Fellow candidates Evanston, Ill. Mayor Daniel K. Biss and state Sen. Laura Fine similarly called for Trump’s impeachment.

Before the Iran attack, Democratic leaders were weighing how to effectively keep Trump in check without drowning out other issues. Party leaders have discussed prioritizing an affordability message, the same topic Republicans want Trump to focus on for the election year.

When Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, brought a resolution to impeach Trump in December, just 140 Democrats voted against a motion to table the measure. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose leadership team opted not to drum up votes for the resolution, was one of 47 Democrats to vote “present,” not supporting or opposing the measure.

“What we tell our members and what we tell candidates who are running is we have to do all of the things,” Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said at the Democratic policy retreat last week. “We have to do oversight and accountability and we have to talk about the affordability agenda and how we’re going to make life better for people if we’re given the opportunity to lead and if we’re given the opportunity to govern.”

Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said at the retreat that some Democratic attempt to impeach is all but certain. The trouble, she said, would be determining on what grounds to impeach. Jeffries is “not going to just have a free for all,” she said.

“I think the difficulty would be narrowing down the high crimes and misdemeanors. Because I think there are high crimes and felonies,” Ross said.