Democrats’ Impeachment Mess

The Democrat sponsor of an unprecedented third impeachment attempt of President Donald Trump has a big problem – his own party.

Just when liberals finally felt like they were gaining some political momentum after sweeping Republican victories last November, any progress may have already been washed away. On April 28, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) officially introduced articles of impeachment against Trump, instantly sending the Washington media into a frenzy and the House Democrat caucus into chaos.

While Democrats’ first two impeachment cases were thin, bordering on nonexistent, they at least revolved around specific allegations against Trump. This time, however, Thanedar couldn’t come up with anything more than vague, wildly hyperbolic claims about the president “obstructing justice,” “violating the Constitution,” and engaging in “tyrannical overreach.”

The move is clearly an effort to appease Democrats’ left-wing base – the articles stand virtually zero chance of ever even coming to a vote in the House. It’s also likely no coincidence that Thanedar announced the impeachment effort the same day news broke that Justice Democrats, the left-wing group that fueled Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upset victory in 2018, had launched a primary challenge against him.

Even Democrat House leaders recognize what most Americans do – that this impeachment effort will go nowhere and will only serve as a massive distraction that will further divide the party. For swing-district Democrat incumbents, refusing to support an impeachment effort against Trump, no matter how ridiculous it is, puts them in the crosshairs of groups like Justice Democrats. But if they choose to back impeachment, which is clearly just a personal political vendetta against Trump, that likely won’t sit well with independent and moderate Democrat voters.

This predicament that Thanedar has placed his vulnerable colleagues in perhaps helps explain reports coming out of the Capitol detailing “internal furor” within the caucus – furor that is now leaking out into full public view.

One anonymous Democrat told Axios that Thanedar’s actions were “a self-own that… fundamentally undermines our capacity to continue to have a conversation with people we need to win over.” Another asked, “Why would we do something that has failed twice as a strategy and yielded no electoral win? The guy got impeached twice, how did it work out for us?” A third said, “It seems self-serving and not a genuine effort to rein in the president.”

But Thanedar didn’t appear to get the message from his disgruntled colleagues. The congressman’s office allegedly added one fellow Democrat as a co-sponsor “based on a vague one-on-one conversation without notifying their staff.”

At least four House Democrats initially listed as cosponsors have since withdrawn their names, including Res. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), and Janice Schakowsky (D-IL). There are currently no active cosponsors of the impeachment resolution.

Nonetheless, this PR debacle highlights persistent divides within the party and underscores Democrats’ desperation to find any sort of footing in their opposition to Trump.

By weaponizing impeachment as a political messaging stunt, Thanedar has said the quiet part out loud: if Democrats win back the House majority in 2026, they will spend all their time reviving the left’s crusade to “get Trump” rather than delivering anything substantive for the American people. It’s a gift Republicans will unwrap next year in attack ads — proof Democrats are obsessed with ousting Trump, not governing.

While Thanedar’s impeachment push hasn’t gained much support among Democrat Party leadership (yet) it has been immensely popular with the liberal activist class, once again revealing that the left’s primary goal is revenge. After all, impeachment theater is easier than winning elections on actual ideas that will improve lives.

But the fallout goes deeper, shining a harsh spotlight on Democrats’ internal civil war. In the wake of last year’s drubbing, a wing of the party pleaded for moderation — urging focus on pocketbook issues, swing-district outreach, a return to the center. Instead, the progressives doubled down, insisting the problem was that the party was not far enough left.

The resulting image is of a ship without a captain – or rather, a ship with two captains working against one another. When one freshman congressman can spring an impeachment ambush without looping in party leaders, you know the chain of command is broken. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, supposedly the helmsman of the House Democrats, is reduced to scrambling to contain the firestorm – he hadn’t even spoken with Thanedar by the time reporters asked him about it.

The mainstream narrative is that this incident is just a political sideshow in Washington. But it may be something more than that. In addition to Jeffries being unable to corral his own members, the Democrat Party now appears so consumed by internecine feuds that it may undermine voters’ confidence in their ability to effectively legislate.

If they don’t course-correct fast, Democrats will find their Trump Derangement Syndrome has cost them more than political capital — it may well cost them seats. And after this debacle, convincing voters that they’re serious about anything else will require a miracle far more impressive than a third impeachment.

Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.