US Democrats divided on whether removing Trump is a useful midterm message

WASHINGTON – Until this month, Democrats have displayed military-like discipline in staying on message about the economy. Then came U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran, his portrayal of himself as a Christ-like figure on social media and his attacks on the pope.

Since then, nearly 40 per cent of House Democrats – 84 as of last week – signed on to Representative Jamie Raskin’s bill to bolster the 25th Amendment with the creation of a special commission to assess presidents’ ability to carry out their duties. The 25th Amendment of the US Constitution provides the bare-bones process for taking away a president’s power in a procedure separate from impeachment.

“I think the Raskin effort is matching where people (voters) are at,” said Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, in an interview. “They can’t believe what Donald Trump’s saying.”

But other Democrats warn that focusing on removing Mr Trump, or impeaching him would, at best, muddy their election-year message of making America more affordable, and at worst turn off voters who watched Democrats impeach Mr Trump twice in his first term only to see him acquitted by a Republican-controlled Senate and elected to a second term in 2024.

Moreover, Democrats are on a winning streak with strong performances in special elections since the beginning of last year.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters this month found 77 per cent believe Mr Trump bears at least a fair amount of responsibility for the rise in gas prices since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran, and polls consistently show voters favour Democrats over Republicans as the party best able to address cost-of-living issues.

“I doubt, for instance, that Mary Peltola and Sherrod Brown are going to be talking a lot about impeaching Trump,” said Mr Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia, referring to two Democrats running in red states Alaska and Ohio, respectively.

Mr Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who was an aide to Mr Marco Rubio when the current secretary of state was a senator, said Republicans will love it if Democrats make removing Mr Trump part of their election-year appeal to voters.

“They will say that Trump is focused on the economy and Democrats are focused on Donald Trump,” he said.

Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut liberal, agreed that “there is something unbelievably wrong” with Mr Trump, but she has not joined Mr Raskin’s initiative.

“Let’s get to what the needs are of the country. The economy, healthcare, grocery prices, that’s where I concentrate,” said Ms DeLauro, who is seeking a 19th term in Congress.

One of the most centrist House Democrats, Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, told Reuters: “I think we need to focus on what’s important to our districts: the affordability, the ICE raids.”

The Trump administration has dispatched thousands of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nationwide in an intensified effort to deport migrants that threatens Republican inroads with Hispanic voters. Mr Cuellar’s district hugs the border with Mexico.

“I don’t think we need to vote down impeachment again. It’s already happened. We know what’s going to happen in the Senate,” Mr Cuellar said.

Even Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a leading voice for progressives, distanced herself from Mr Raskin’s effort.

“It is appropriate to look at the 25th Amendment,” she said in an interview. “But it’s going to take Republicans standing up and doing that. The Democrats cannot do it by themselves.”

Under the 25th Amendment, the vice-president, working in tandem with the president’s Cabinet heads, would have to initiate a move to temporarily strip him of his powers.

Other Democrats running for re-election this year, however, might need to embrace the idea of impeaching Mr Trump to appeal to the party’s younger left-flank voters. Representative John Larson of Connecticut, a 77-year-old establishment Democrat, facing a challenge from at least two candidates who are more than three decades younger than him, introduced 13 articles of impeachment against Mr Trump on April 6.

They range from usurping Congress’ power to declare war and committing war crimes to violating the Constitution’s “emoluments” clauses prohibiting presidents from using their office to enrich themselves.

A Larson spokesperson noted that the congressman has a long record of embracing liberal stances, including his votes against the US war in Iraq.

For the time being, Democrats are treading carefully on the subject of taking on Mr Trump, despite the party’s string of successes in special elections since January 2025. Failing to do so elicits a flurry of accusations from Republicans that Democrats harbor “irrational hatred” of Mr Trump.

“Democrats are Once Again Gearing Up For Impeachment, and Other Than Trump Derangement Syndrome, They Can’t Articulate Why,” said a press release issued April 10 by House Speaker Mike Johnson. It is an attack that could resonate in states like Ohio, Alaska and North Carolina, where Democrats are trying to oust incumbent Republican senators by winning over independent voters.

Democratic former Senator Brown is in a bid to claw back his Senate seat representing Ohio, which he lost in 2024 after years of backing from blue-collar workers.

Amid all the Washington chatter this month about removing Mr Trump, Mr Brown’s campaign has largely ignored it.

Instead, he is sticking to affordability and arguing that workers are being cheated by “a rigged system” that he says hits everyone from blue-collar laborers to farmers. Among his proposals are capping rate increases on utility bills – not ousting Mr Trump.

Polling puts the economy and consumer prices atop voters’ list of worries, even as Mr Trump works to defend the impact of higher gasoline prices stemming from the US war on Iran as a good investment.

Mr Trump campaigned in 2024 promising to bring down prices. Instead, going into the thick of this year’s political campaigns, the US inflation year-over-year rate was 3.3 per cent in March, up from 2.4 per cent in February.

Just 25 per cent of respondents in a late March Reuters/Ipsos poll approved of Mr Trump’s handling of the cost of living.

Polling like that heartens Democrats’ midterm hopes, especially given that the party out of power historically fares well in these off-presidential-year elections.

Whether or not the words “impeachment” or “25th Amendment” should be uttered in this campaign season, Democrats agree that linking the Iran war with affordability is a winning argument.

“I had 11 town halls with (constituents’) tremendous frustration around gas prices” during Congress’ spring break, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said in an interview. “What I’m focused on now is showing that we’re involved in concrete results.” REUTERS