Several congressional Democrats have called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office following his abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. But less than a year into his second term, this is hardly Trump’s only impeachable offense.
“Trump and his administration have consolidated power and committed war crimes to seize Venezuelan oil and pursue regime change in line with their imperialistic agenda in the Western Hemisphere,” Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois said in a statement Sunday. “Trump must be impeached.”
Similarly, Rep. Dan Goldman of New York called the action Trump’s “unilateral and unauthorized military operation” and “an impeachable offense.”
And Rep. Jared Huffman of California called Trump’s behavior “truly insane” and called to invoke the 25th Amendment, which says that a president can be removed from office due to incapacity.
Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh of Illinois called on her fellow Democrats to take action in response to Trump’s many lawless actions.
“Democrats need to grow a f*cking spine. No more strongly worded letters. It’s time to draft articles of impeachment. Impeach. Convict. Remove,” she wrote on Bluesky.
The current crop of impeachment demands is in response to Trump’s invasion of Venezuela, which is likely a violation of international law. Trump also broke the law by keeping Congress in the dark about his plan to abduct Maduro.
But since the start of his second term, Trump has engaged in numerous acts that would easily meet the constitutional requirement for impeachment.
Among them is his administration’s abductions and deportations of international students, solely for expressing personal beliefs that diverge from the right. Trump has also abused the immigration system by deporting Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, which the administration has defended with a series of lies and misinformation.
Trump could also be credibly impeached for accepting a bribe from CBS’ parent company Paramount in exchange for approving its merger with Skydance. And in May, Trump received a jet from the Qatari government, which he has said he will convert to operate as Air Force One.
Trump also abused his presidential powers by deploying the National Guard to multiple cities, including Washington and Los Angeles, based on lies about crime purportedly increasing—crime fell in those cities under the Biden administration.
He also engaged in behavior like diverting funds authorized by Congress for his own pet projects, pushing for the execution of members of Congress, and using the Justice Department as his own personal retribution machine.
Just four months into his second term, Trump was already the target of impeachment legislation, authored by Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan.
Trump holds the record for most impeached president in U.S. history after facing charges of abusing his office as part of a planned smear campaign against and for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
While it’s unlikely that Trump’s allies would put their partisanship aside to remove him as a threat to the country, another impeachment would make clear to millions—domestically and around the world—that his brand of criminal presidency is out of line.
And the Republicans that give their blessing would be further tainted by their association with this rogue president.
