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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) has indicated that Democrats aren’t currently considering impeaching President Donald Trump — meaning that the issue likely won’t be a talking point in the final months leading up to the midterm elections, despite data demonstrating that impeachment is popular among voters.
Speaking to CNBC’s Emily Wilkins at the network’s “CEO Council Summit” in Washington, D.C., Jeffries said that, while the Trump administration has been “completely and totally out of control,” Democrats aren’t currently pursuing impeachment.
“We haven’t ruled anything in; we haven’t ruled anything out,” Jeffries elaborated.
The leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives also said that, “from an accountability standpoint,” the party “will be centered around delivering the type of government that’s actually focused on improving the quality of life of the American people, as opposed to the self-dealing that we’re seeing occur right now.”
Impeachment isn’t something the party is thinking about “at this moment,” he added.
Jeffries’s comments suggest that the party’s strategy in the coming months is to focus primarily on policy, with limited discussion on holding Trump and members of his administration accountable.
The strategy is not an unusual one — discussions of impeachment are rare to begin with, and candidates may consider it taboo to discuss impeaching someone ahead of actually getting elected.
Not all Democrats agree with the strategy, however. Several House Democrats have called for Trump’s impeachment numerous times in recent months.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) has also issued calls for Trump’s impeachment. In April, Markey said that Trump deserved to be removed from office over the president’s “unstable” threat to destroy “a whole civilization,” comments that were referencing Iran a few weeks into the administration’s war in the Middle East. More recently, Markey said that Trump’s attempt to create a “weaponization” slush fund — to pay out allies that felt targeted by DOJ efforts to hold them legally accountable for their actions during the January 6 attack — also warranted impeachment proceedings.
“Trump’s ‘weaponization fund’ … is his latest impeachable offense: using the machinery of government and billions in taxpayer dollars to reward allies, pay off insurrectionists, and shield himself, his family, and associates from accountability,” Markey said.
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But like House leadership, Senate Democratic leaders have downplayed calls for impeaching Trump. When the president issued his genocidal threats against Iran, for example, Senate Democratic leadership condemned the remarks but did not go so far as to say impeachment was on the table.
The terms for impeachment are laid out in Article II Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution:
The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Historically, the term “high crimes and misdemeanors” has been understood to mean an abuse of power by a person in political office. There are plenty of examples of Trump abusing his current station, including his making billions of dollars from the presidency and his use of the Department of Justice to target his opponents.
While Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress attempt to avoid discussing impeachment, polling shows that a majority of voters are in favor of the idea.
Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll, conducted in mid-April, found that 55 percent of Americans believe the House should impeach Trump, while just 37 percent were against the idea. (Another 8 percent were unsure.)
“That net +18 verdict puts Trump in the neighborhood of the numbers Richard Nixon saw at the peak of the Watergate scandal in August 1974,” data journalist G. Elliott Morris reported.
Meanwhile, a Free Speech for People/Lake Research Partners poll published around the same time showed that 52 percent of Americans supported impeachment, while only 40 percent were opposed. Among independents, the numbers were stronger — 55 percent of those voters back impeaching Trump, with only 34 percent opposed.
Support for impeaching Trump appears to be consistent across polls. It’s also consistent across time. More than a year ago, just months into the second Trump presidency, that 52 percent of voters backed the idea of impeaching him.
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