Democrats have an opportunity to shape a generation. Will they take it?

Opinion

A third Trump impeachment would face a steep Senate hurdle. Would Republicans help Democrats clear it?

A charcoal and blue illustration of a person carrying a folder up the first step of a steep stone staircase. — A steep climb represents the Senate hurdle after a House impeachment vote. Editorial illustration / The National Referendum

In late October, former Vice President Kamala Harris warned Democrats against attempting what would now be a third impeachment, calling it “not a good idea.” [1] Trump is already the only U.S. president to have been impeached twice, and Democrats may just be looking to increase his lead. [2] And they have concrete reasons for doing so. President Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family’s crypto ventures in 2025, according to Reuters’ review of his financial disclosures. [3] His questionable crypto dealings and the wealth they’ve brought him are just the cherry on top of what I see as a mountain of impeachable offenses. However, let’s look at the uphill battle the Democrats face in what could be a trial that defines a new generation of American politics.

An impeachment of the president starts in the House of Representatives and then moves to the Senate for trial. The House is the easier of the two, with just a simple majority needed to impeach. [4] And after Democrats won both chambers in the 2026 midterm election, clearing this hurdle would be almost like an Olympic athlete jumping a single hurdle. [5] However, things get difficult when we move on to the Senate. To convict and remove the president, the Senate needs a whopping two-thirds of the senators present to vote in favor. [4] As of November 8, Democrats are projected to hold 52 seats in the next Senate, plus two independents who caucus with them. That could rise to 54 Democratic seats if they hold their leads in Mississippi and Alaska. [6, 7] That leaves them with at most 56 potential votes to convict, meaning they would still need 11 Republicans to force Donald Trump out if all 100 senators were present and all 56 voted to convict. This number may just dissuade Democrats from pursuing such a move, but what if they go ahead anyway?

President Trump has cooked up the perfect situation to get himself impeached. And sadly, I am not talking about the conduct Democrats could cite in articles of impeachment. I am talking about the current popularity of the Republican Party. Donald Trump’s approval was at 32% in a late-October Reuters/Ipsos poll, and I think that unpopularity has pulled Republicans down with him. [8] And it’s only going to get worse. President Trump has already positioned himself to continue the policies that just wiped out Republicans. He even told CBS News he was prepared to veto legislation from a Democratic Congress, getting in the way of the change Americans just voted for. [9] Donald Trump at this moment is a ticking time bomb that Republicans will want to run away from if they value their position in politics for the next few decades. Democrats may just be able to give them a way out.

Don’t get me wrong. Republicans have only harmed the country by pandering to the failure of a businessman in his attempt to shape the country to his own personal worldview. And they should be punished for it. But to ensure that our democracy survives, there must be more than one voice within our government. There are essentially two ways they may be able to survive. The first is to sit and wait, for years or maybe even decades, until Democrats slip up, and then run the same campaign they have run since Trump entered politics. The second is to admit that they have followed the wrong man, admit they were led astray, and commit to the one last action that may redeem them, the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. I do not think this should be the focus of the Democratic Party heading into the new year, as it is indeed an uphill battle, but it wouldn’t hurt to see where loyalties stand.

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Written by

Nathan A. Hughes

US Veteran & Political Commentator

Nathan A. Hughes served six years as a combat medic in the United States Army. He continues to serve the American public through nonpartisan reporting that helps readers understand complex policy questions and make informed decisions.