With Democrats hoping to reclaim control of the House in Tuesday's midterm elections, Smith says that he now supports impeaching Trump and is inclined to also back proceedings against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, making him one of the most senior Democrats to endorse such a course.
Smith's endorsement is particularly significant because he would be in line to chair the Armed Services Committee if Democrats win the House, putting him at the center of investigations into the Pentagon's handling of the war with Iran, its approach to Ukraine, and military operations in Latin America.
Read more: Calls to Impeach Trump Collide With Reluctant Democratic Leadership
Since then, he says, Trump's increasingly conciliatory posture toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, his decisions involving American support for Ukraine, and his public rhetoric have convinced him that the President's continued tenure presents an extraordinary danger. "The Ukraine stuff definitely had a profound impact," Smith says. "When I saw how close he was getting to Putin and shutting off support for Ukraine, being more pro-Putin. I mean, that's a big part of it." He also cites Trump's increasingly "unhinged speeches," including remarks about rising gasoline prices amid the war in the Middle East.
Other senior House Democrats are less certain that pursuing impeachment would accomplish much, even if they share Smith's assessment of Trump's conduct. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who led the House managers during Trump's second impeachment trial in 2021, says he has "little doubt that the president has committed multiple impeachable offenses," citing what he describes as unconstitutional military action and abuses of congressional spending authority. But he draws a distinction between establishing grounds for impeachment and deciding whether another trial would be the best use of Congress's time and political capital.
Trump was impeached in 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine and again in 2021 over his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Both proceedings ended in acquittal, although seven Republican senators voted to convict him in the second trial. While some Democrats regarded those efforts as necessary to establish a historical and constitutional record, another impeachment could consume months of congressional attention, galvanize Trump's supporters, and leave voters questioning what the party had accomplished with its new majority.
Schiff disputes the notion that the earlier impeachment efforts strengthened Trump politically, but argues that Democrats should concentrate initially on investigating corruption that has affected Americans' finances. "Our primary focus ought to be on corruption that has raised the cost of living for people," he says.
Some Democrats are looking toward members of Trump's Cabinet, particularly Hegseth, as potentially more viable targets, reasoning that Republicans who would never vote to remove the President might be more willing to turn against a defense secretary whose leadership has drawn criticism from within their own party. "There are Republicans who would support impeaching Hegseth who might not support doing it to Trump," Smith says.
Raskin says that impeaching a Cabinet secretary would be less likely to consume Congress's agenda or raise the same concerns about overturning the result of a presidential election. "The question of cabinet officers is a little bit easier because it doesn't necessarily consume all of the policy oxygen in Congress," he says.
Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a member of the Armed Services Committee who served as a House manager during Trump's first impeachment trial, says lawmakers have been preparing for extensive investigations into the Pentagon regardless of the election's outcome. He cites the removal of senior military officers, alleged misuse of defense funds, threats against NATO, possible troop withdrawals from Europe, and the administration's handling of the Iran war as areas demanding scrutiny. But Crow stops short of endorsing impeachment as the preferred course. "Impeachment is only one tool that Congress has," he told TIME.
"If the goal is to get Pete Hegseth out of the Department of Defense to stop corruption, to erect some guardrails against this runaway, reckless administration, and to protect the country against the increased erratic and dangerous behavior of Donald Trump, then we have to look post-November what the Congress looks like," Crow says. "Maybe impeachment is part of that. I wouldn't hesitate to use that if that's the right one."
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