Impeachment is like the Sword of Damocles hanging over American presidents who abuse power. But don’t wait for it to strike Donald Trump even though a growing number of Americans feel he has so blatantly abused his power that he should be impeached.
Democrats have threatened to impeach him if they regain control of Congress from Trump’s Republican Party in this November’s mid-term elections, pointing to a long list of alleged abuses during the first year of his second term.
They include defying court orders against his administration; invading Venezuela and bombing Iran without the permission of Congress, which has the sole authority to formally declare war; sending the National Guard to states without the required approval of state governors; demolishing the White House East Wing to build a ballroom; and enriching himself and his family by billions of dollars.
But the US Constitution makes it extremely hard to successfully impeach a president, requiring a lengthy two-step congressional process. The House of Representatives must begin the process by investigating alleged abuses followed by a vote, which needs a simple majority of its 435 members to impeach. The process then moves to the 100-member Senate for a trial. Impeachment only succeeds if two-thirds of the senators vote to impeach. The House impeached Trump twice during his first term, in 2019 for obstructing Congress and in 2021 for inciting his supporters to storm Congress after his election loss to Joe Biden. Both impeachments died in the Senate where they failed to get the required two-thirds vote.
The House has impeached only two other presidents aside from Trump: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both impeachments failed in the Senate. Richard Nixon faced impeachment in the House for abuse of power, contempt of Congress, and obstruction of justice linked to the Watergate scandal. But he chose to resign instead in 1974 before the vote, making him the only president to resign. Polls show Democrats will regain control of the House and possibly the Senate in November, but it is very unlikely they will win the two-thirds of Senate seats needed to impeach Trump. House members serve a two-year term, which means all 435 members face elections every two years.
Senators serve six-year terms, which means only one-third at a time face elections every two years. That makes it almost impossible for Democrats to win two-thirds of the seats in November. But Trump, obsessed with his legacy, is running scared. He fears the House will impeach him a historic third time if Democrats control it after the November elections.
Trump has triggered daily controversies, ranging from trade tariffs and threats to acquire Greenland to bombing alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and killing its occupants. He recently caused nationwide disgust during the 100th anniversary of Black History Month’s founding by posting a racist video portraying former president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as apes. Bipartisan backlash forced him to delete it, but he refused to apologize. Numerous Americans want him gone, but he still has three years as president.
Michael Chugani is a longtime journalist who has worked in Hong Kong, the US, and London
