Impeachment Momentum Builds as Democrats Seize on Trump’s Dismissal of Constitutional Duty

By Carl Hulse and Emily Cochrane Washington — Nov. 26, 2025

WASHINGTON — In a dramatic escalation of partisan warfare, House Democrats filed articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, accusing him of high crimes and misdemeanors for what they described as a flagrant “insult to the Constitution” and a pattern of undermining democratic norms. The move, spearheaded by Representatives Al Green of Texas and Shri Thanedar of Michigan, comes just days after Mr. Trump’s offhand remark in a Fox News interview — “Do I need to uphold the Constitution? I don’t know, we’ll see what happens” — sparked outrage among legal scholars and fueled calls for his removal from office.

The articles, formally introduced as H.Res. 537, cite Mr. Trump’s comment as emblematic of broader abuses, including his administration’s aggressive deportation policies that legal experts say skirt due process protections under the Fifth Amendment, executive orders freezing federal spending in violation of the Impoundment Control Act, and recent threats to prosecute political opponents using the Justice Department. “This is not mere rhetoric; it’s a direct assault on the founding document of our republic,” Mr. Green declared on the House floor, his voice rising as he invoked the oath of office Mr. Trump swore just 10 months ago. “When the president questions his duty to the Constitution, he invites chaos — and we must act before it consumes us.”

The filing arrives amid a torrent of political turbulence. Prediction markets on platforms like Polymarket have seen the odds of Mr. Trump’s impeachment by year’s end climb to 18 percent, up from 5 percent last week, driven by revelations in newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents that mention Mr. Trump’s past associations and raise questions about his handling of related files. On X, the hashtag #ImpeachTrumpAgain trended nationwide Tuesday, with users sharing clips of Mr. Trump’s interview alongside historical footage of his two prior impeachments in 2019 and 2021. “He swore to protect it, now he’s mocking it. History repeats, but this time we finish the job,” one viral post read, garnering over 50,000 likes.

Legal scholars warn that the episode could precipitate a “historic political meltdown,” as one put it, testing the resilience of institutional checks in a polarized era. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, described Mr. Trump’s remark as “a blitzkrieg on the rule of law,” echoing concerns raised in February when the president’s early executive actions — including an attempt to end birthright citizenship via order — were struck down by federal courts as unconstitutional. “Systematic disregard for the Constitution isn’t hyperbole; it’s a crisis that erodes public trust and invites authoritarian drift,” Mr. Chemerinsky said in an interview. His assessment aligns with a February New York Times analysis that cataloged over a dozen such violations in Mr. Trump’s first 100 days of his second term.

The White House dismissed the impeachment push as “desperate theater from losers who can’t accept the election.” In a statement, press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of “weaponizing Congress to sabotage the people’s mandate,” pointing to Mr. Trump’s approval rating, which hovers at 52 percent in recent Gallup polls, buoyed by economic gains and border security measures. Mr. Trump himself took to Truth Social, posting a meme of himself as a boxer knocking out “Crooked Joe” Biden, captioned: “Third time’s the charm? These clowns tried twice and failed. Constitution’s fine — it’s the radical left that’s broken.” The post drew cheers from supporters but amplified Democratic arguments that his casual defiance normalizes executive overreach.

This is not Mr. Green’s first rodeo; the Texas Democrat, who represents a district scarred by Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, has introduced impeachment resolutions against Mr. Trump more than a dozen times since 2017, often citing racial insensitivity or foreign policy blunders. But Tuesday’s filing feels different, arriving on the heels of “Remove the Regime” protests in Washington last weekend, where thousands rallied against Mr. Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to quell urban unrest — a move critics likened to martial law lite. Organized by a coalition including Indivisible and the League of Women Voters, the demonstrations highlighted fears of eroded civil liberties, with placards reading “Oath to Constitution, Not to Trump.”

Republicans, holding a slim 220-215 majority in the House, moved swiftly to quash the effort. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana scheduled a rules committee hearing for Thursday, where the resolution is likely to be tabled. “This is performative outrage, not governance,” Mr. Johnson said, flanked by G.O.P. leaders in a Capitol news conference. Yet even some conservatives expressed unease. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally, told reporters, “The president’s words were… intemperate. We’re better than this mudslinging.”

The impeachment saga intersects with other flash points. On Monday, the FBI sought interviews with six Democratic lawmakers — dubbed the “Seditious Six” by Mr. Trump — over a viral video they produced urging service members to “refuse unlawful orders” and defend the Constitution against domestic threats. The clip, featuring Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and others, has been condemned by administration officials as incitement to mutiny, though Democrats frame it as a patriotic reminder of military oaths. “We’re not attacking the chain of command; we’re upholding it,” Mr. Kelly said on CNN, invoking his late wife, Gabrielle Giffords, a former congresswoman wounded in a 2011 shooting. Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s deputy chief of staff, fired back on Fox News: “This is the CIA playbook for color revolutions — sowing doubt in our troops to destabilize the country.”

Historians draw parallels to Watergate, when President Richard M. Nixon’s taped remark — “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal” — catalyzed his downfall. “Trump’s ‘I don’t know’ is Nixon’s arrogance lite, but in a media-saturated age, it amplifies faster,” said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University professor and author of “Burning Down the House.” Mr. Zelizer cautioned that while conviction in the Republican-controlled Senate remains a long shot — requiring a two-thirds majority — the process could fracture G.O.P. unity ahead of the 2026 midterms. Polling from Quinnipiac shows 45 percent of independents now view Mr. Trump’s leadership as “unconstitutional,” up 12 points since October.

For Democrats, the strategy is twofold: rally the base and expose rifts in the president’s coalition. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, plans town halls in battleground districts to argue that Mr. Trump’s actions — from firing inspectors general to targeting universities over antisemitism allegations — erode the separation of powers. “This isn’t about revenge; it’s about redemption for our democracy,” Mr. Raskin said.

As Thanksgiving gatherings unfold, the nation grapples with a deepening divide. Protests swelled outside the Capitol Tuesday evening, with counter-demonstrators waving MAGA flags. On X, debates raged: one user posted, “Trump’s trolling the libs — Constitution’s safe with him,” while another retorted, “This is how republics die: one ‘I don’t know’ at a time.”

In the end, the impeachment may fizzle in Congress but linger in the courts and public psyche. As Mr. Chemerinsky noted, “Crises like this don’t resolve neatly; they reshape the guardrails of power.” For a second-term president already musing about a third, the stakes could not be higher — nor the republic more tested.