House Democrats Revive Impeachment Threat, Citing Pattern of Alleged Constitutional Violations

By Carl Hulse and Luke Broadwater The New York Times | November 28, 2025

WASHINGTON — House Democrats, undeterred by a Republican majority that has shown no appetite for removing President Trump, have introduced a series of new impeachment resolutions this year, the latest salvo in a long-running campaign to hold the president accountable for what they describe as a pattern of unconstitutional conduct.

The most sweeping measure, H. Res. 353, introduced in April by Representative Shri Thanedar, Democrat of Michigan, lists seven articles ranging from obstruction of justice and abuse of trade and spending powers to “tyranny” — an incendiary term rarely seen in modern impeachment language. Additional resolutions filed by Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, in May and June accuse Mr. Trump of violating the First Amendment, engaging in bribery and corruption, and creating unlawful offices.

None of the resolutions has advanced beyond referral to the House Judiciary Committee, where they sit with little prospect of a vote. Republicans, who hold a 221-214 majority, swiftly dismissed the efforts as partisan theater.

Yet Democrats insist the filings serve a purpose beyond symbolism. “When a president repeatedly places himself above the law, Congress has a constitutional obligation to speak — even when the votes for conviction are not there,” Mr. Thanedar said in an interview. Mr. Green, who has introduced impeachment articles against every Republican president since 2017, called the measures “a permanent record for history.”

The timing is not coincidental. The resolutions cite, among other things, Mr. Trump’s handling of classified documents discovered at Mar-a-Lago after he left office in 2021 — a case that remains active in federal court in Florida. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Trump obstructed justice by refusing to return sensitive materials and directing the deletion of security-camera footage. The president has denied wrongdoing and accused the Justice Department of political persecution.

Legal scholars are divided on the strategy. “Impeachment is a political process, not a legal one,” said Keith E. Whittington, a Princeton professor of politics. “Filing articles that everyone knows will die in committee risks trivializing the tool the Framers intended as a last resort.” Others argue that documenting alleged abuses, even symbolically, preserves congressional prerogative in an era of expanding executive power.

The White House called the resolutions “recycled political stunts from the same people who spent years trying to overturn the 2016 and 2024 elections.” In a statement, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The American people re-elected President Trump by a historic margin because they are tired of these endless witch hunts.”

On Truth Social, Mr. Trump was characteristically blunt: “Deranged Democrats are trying to impeach me for the THIRD time while I’m fixing the mess they made. Sad!”

The renewed impeachment push comes as Democrats prepare for the 2026 midterms, hoping to nationalize the election around Mr. Trump’s conduct. Internal strategy memos, reviewed by The Times, urge candidates to highlight the resolutions alongside the ongoing classified-documents prosecution and recent court rulings that have blocked parts of the president’s tariff and spending agenda.

Republican leaders have moved quickly to neutralize the issue. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters the resolutions “will never see the House floor” and accused Democrats of “legislative harassment.” Behind the scenes, G.O.P. aides say the party plans to counter with its own messaging campaign framing the impeachment efforts as proof that Democrats cannot accept electoral defeat.

For now, the resolutions remain little more than entries in the Congressional Record. But in a deeply polarized Congress where institutional norms have frayed, even symbolic acts carry weight. As one senior Democratic leadership aide put it, speaking on condition of anonymity: “We may not remove him today, but we are making sure the history books remember exactly what happened.”