Democrats could impeach President Donald Trump if they win control of the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Trump said this week, “I guess I’ll become Mr. Veto” if Republicans lose control of Congress.
Republicans now hold the House by 218-214 and the Senate by 53-47. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to take the House and four seats to take the Senate, and a House majority would give them the power to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump and other members of his administration.
House control and impeachment
During Trump’s first term, House Democrats launched two impeachment bids against him. A new Democratic majority in the House would also bring broader oversight power over the Trump administration for the final two years of his term.
Trump expanded on his warning, saying, “They’ll be sending stuff up. You veto it. And eventually, after a month or two of getting all vetoed—they’re just wasting time—they come over, and you make a deal. I think that probably would happen, but hopefully we don’t have to worry about that.”
Trump, Lauren Bis, and the midterms
Lauren Bis said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that “Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of Americans—their only agenda is to continue their decade long witch hunt against President Trump.” She also said, “This administration and commonsense Republicans will continue to secure our borders, restore law and order, putting more money back into the pockets of hard-working Americans, and deliver wins for the American people.”
Bis added, “The choice has never been clearer: doubling down on President Trump’s winning, commonsense agenda or the Democrats’ obstruction.” As of Monday, RealClearPolitics gave Democrats an 8.9-point lead on the generic ballot, and Nate Silver’s polling aggregate showed them ahead in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, and other states cut off in the source text.
Whether Democrats will use it
The election result will decide whether Democrats get the House majority they need to start impeachment proceedings and expand oversight of the White House. Whether Democrats would actually use that power after the vote remains the open question, but the next step is straightforward: the midterm count will decide who controls Congress and whether Trump faces a House run by Democrats.
