Democrats Call for Trump's Removal as Party Preps Oversight Agenda

More than 70 Democratic lawmakers have called for President Donald Trump's impeachment or removal under the 25th Amendment, according to a New York Times account of the party's midterm planning reported Friday by Newsmax. The removal calls remain unresolved inside the party: leaders recognize that conviction would require a two-thirds Senate majority, and after Trump's two first-term impeachments, even some Democrats have raised concern that the public has little appetite for more such inquiries.

The planning, detailed in Times interviews with lawmakers, congressional aides and party advisers, envisions a rapid opening if Democrats win power. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries plans to move four measures directly to the floor in the first 100 hours, aides said: restoring expired Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, reversing nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts, ending Trump's tariffs and restoring congressional trade authority, and requiring Trump to end the Iran war or seek congressional authorization. Any of it would face the Senate, where most major bills need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Oversight is the second track. Democrats intend to use congressional investigative powers on allegations of corruption involving Trump and his administration. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who could chair the Judiciary Committee, identified potential targets in his Times interview: presidential pardons, government contracting, and cryptocurrency transactions involving the Trump family. Raskin expects administration officials to resist subpoenas and plans to seek information from whistleblowers, private companies and public records.

Republicans, for their part, reject the premise that a Democratic wave is coming. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News he is campaigning in the very places forecasters say Republicans will lose, and added: "They are wrong." Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Friday he believes Republicans have "a really good shot at hanging on both the House and the Senate," and Vice President JD Vance said the party is "swimming against some serious historical trends" but is "not giving up anywhere." Beyond the opening sprint, Democrats are weighing ICE accountability measures, a minimum-wage increase, a ban on congressional stock trading, and expanded housing, child and earned-income tax credits - an agenda that, even in a Democratic Congress, would still run into Trump's veto.