For Democrats, the Iran war is reviving a familiar word — impeachment

With Republicans in full control of Congress and Washington, Democrats have spent much of President Donald Trump's second term mostly avoiding futile calls to seriously try to remove him from office.

That's changed since the Iran war – especially after Trump's warning earlier this week that a "whole civilization" would "die" if the Islamic Republic didn't concede to demands from the U.S. and Israel.

In recent days, an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers have called for the impeachment of the president, accusing him of "blatant war crimes." Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, also held a briefing with fellow House Democrats on April 10 to discuss urging Trump's Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.

With virtually ironclad GOP support behind the president, there's no realistic way he'd actually be removed, or that any of the Democrats' efforts could gain significant steam. Republicans are largely in charge of the floors and schedules of the House and Senate, where they have voting majorities, and even Democratic leaders in both chambers haven't indicated they'd be open to a full-throated impeachment push.

But the new openness to talking about it underscores how the Trump administration's policies, and the Iran war in particular, have pushed Democrats to political extremes. And it provides a preview of future impeachment clashes between progressives and centrists that could consume Washington if Democrats take back the House of Representatives and gain seats in the Senate in November's midterm elections.

"Impeach. Remove. This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office," Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, wrote on social media.

Other Democrats have been more cautious in their approach to similar entreaties.

"The Constitution gives Congress the ability to remove an unfit president," Sen. Andy Kim, D-New Jersey, said. "Should we do this? Of course. But the impeachment starts in the House. And I don't expect Mike Johnson to grow a spine overnight."

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle called the renewed impeachment calls "pathetic."

"Democrats have been talking about impeaching President Trump since before he was even sworn into office," he said in a statement to USA TODAY. "The Democrats in Congress are deranged, weak, and ineffective, which is why their approval ratings are at historic lows."

On April 8, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump's threat to potentially kill tens of millions of Iranians and said he "absolutely has the moral high ground over the Iranian terrorist regime."

"It was a very strong threat that led to results," she said.

When was Trump impeached before?

Trump has been impeached twice before by the House, though never convicted of high crimes and misdemeanors, which requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate.

In December 2019, the House voted to impeach Trump on two articles relating to charges that he abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress in his dealings with Ukraine. The Republican-led Senate acquitted him in February 2020.

The House impeached Trump again in January 2021, charging him with inciting an insurrection related to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of that year. Ten Republicans broke ranks and voted with Democrats at the time, before the Senate acquitted him once more.

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.