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By Hugh Cameron
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President Donald Trump has warned that a strong Democratic showing in the 2026 midterm elections could revive efforts to impeach him for a third time, raising fresh questions about how likely such a move would be—and whether it could succeed.
Trump was impeached twice during his first term. First, in 2019 for alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after the president pressed Ukraine to conduct an inquiry into Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, and again in 2021 for “inciting violence against the government” ahead of the January 6 Capitol riot.
Both efforts made it through the Democratic-controlled House but the Republican-controlled Senate voted against conviction. Now, Trump says a Democratic landslide on November 3 could resurrect the prospect.
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“You’ve got to win the midterms,” Trump told House Republicans at a GOP retreat in January. “Cause if we don’t win the midterms, they’ll find a reason to impeach me.”
Newsweek has contacted the White House via email for comment.
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How Likely Is a Third Impeachment?
A handful of Democrats have taken action to impeach Trump since his return to the White House, motivated by a range of reasons but all ultimately failing to gather sufficient momentum.
In April of last year, Michigan Representative Shri Thanedar introduced articles of impeachment against Trump, citing a number of alleged constitutional violations over the first 100 days of the president’s second term. He walked back forcing a vote after his proposal failed to get the backing of other Democrats, but said he would continue to hold Trump "accountable for his many impeachable crimes.”
The latest bid by Representative Al Green—one of seven made by the Texas Democrat across Trump’s two terms—reached the House floor in December, only to be shelved following a 237-140 vote, with 47 Democrats choosing to vote present.
But such calls are ongoing, both from Trump's fiercest critics within Congress but also grassroots organizations such as Citizens’ Impeachment, and Remove the Regime.
Former congressional staffer Brandon Weichert believes Democrats will make this a priority should they secure majorities in the House and Senate come November, and Frank Bowman, professor of law at the University of Missouri School of Law, believes the party would have sufficient recourse to do so.
“Trump has committed a bagful of impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors,” Bowman told Newsweek, citing Trump pardoning of January 6 rioters, alleged violations of the fourth and fifth amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and alleged assaults on press freedom.
“Time doesn’t permit listing all the other possibilities,” he added.
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Do Democrats Want To Impeach?
Despite any potential desire to remove Trump from office, experts say the party’s legislative chances are better served by prioritizing the contemporary issues facing everyday Americans.
“The core focus of any candidate running in 2026 has to be focused on the reality that these affordability concerns, even one year later, still exist,” Republican strategist Kevin Madden told The Hill in January.
And Democrats themselves have been coy about the prospect of another impeachment.
Punchbowl News interviewed several lawmakers who roundly rejected the idea, with California Representative Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, saying: “Literally no Democrats are talking about this. This is not something that comes up in our discussions at all.”
Even if Democrats were inclined to pursue impeachment, the procedural hurdles remain steep. The House can impeach a president by a simple majority vote, but removal from office requires a two‑thirds conviction in the Senate following a trial presided over by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
While Democrats are currently favored to win the House, their path to a Senate majority appears far more narrow.
The latest forecast from RacetotheWH, based on polling averages and several other data-based inputs, gives the party only a 43 percent chance of securing more than 50 seats. While the race is within “toss up” territory, fewer than 67 seats would preclude a conviction in any impeachment trial.
“I am not sure it makes political sense for Dems to impeach Trump unless they can convict him,” Bowman said. “Which, absent some national catastrophe plainly attributable to Trump, even in MAGA minds, they won’t be able to even if they take [the] House and Senate this year.”
What the Prediction Markets Are Saying
Despite those constraints, users on prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi have increasingly wagered on the possibility of another Trump impeachment.
In one particular Polymarket contract, 11 percent of traders see a chance that Trump could be impeached by the end of 2026—before any newly elected lawmakers are sworn in at the start of the next Congress on January 3. Those chances briefly climbed as high as 24 percent last November, as the administration faced fallout from the publication of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a separate wager, 72 percent consider impeachment likely before the end of his second term in January 2029.
On Kalshi, roughly 70 percent of users expect Trump to be impeached at some point before January 2028, up from around 40 percent in mid‑November.
Bowman said that while impeachment has become more commonplace in modern politics, that does not necessarily make it inevitable.
“Impeachment has become a trivial political maneuver in the minds of many, rather than the crucial constitutional remedy it was meant to be,” he said. “That said, there will be immense pressure on Dems to do it if they take even the House alone.”
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