Hakeem Jeffries Won't Rule Out Third Trump Impeachment as Democrats Win the House
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is on track to become speaker in January after Democrats took control of the House, and he is already refusing to take a third impeachment of President Donald Trump off the table.
NBC News projected the Democratic victory after the party flipped enough Republican-held districts to clear the 218 seats needed for a majority. Democrats also won control of the Senate on Tuesday.
Asked on NBC's “Meet the Press” about impeachment, Jeffries said Democrats “haven't ruled anything in and we haven't ruled anything out.”
Before the election, he had pushed back on the idea that Democrats would investigate the administration “like crazy.” “We're going to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution, and let the chips fall where they may,” he told reporters at Democratic campaign headquarters.
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“We Won on Affordability”
In an appearance on MS NOW's “Morning Joe,” Jeffries struck a different tone, saying Americans do not want Democrats to “get even.” He said they want the party to get things done because life is too expensive. “We ran on affordability, we won on affordability, and now it's our job to govern on affordability,” he said.
NBC News said Democrats could enter January with their largest House majority in nearly two decades. Several races were still unresolved Wednesday, so that margin could grow.
The result ends two years of unified Republican government and sets up divided government for the second half of Trump's second term.
Democrats piled up wins across battleground districts and also made gains in areas that had recently leaned Republican. NBC News reported that frustration with Trump, affordability, corruption and a lack of congressional oversight all contributed to the party's gains.
What Voters Said
According to NBC's exit poll, 43 percent of voters said expressing opposition to Trump was one reason for their vote. Another 71 percent said Congress had not provided enough oversight of the president, including 41 percent of Republican voters surveyed. AP polling also found widespread concern about living costs and the direction of the country.
Jeffries is set to take the gavel when the new Congress convenes on January 3. With the majority, Democrats will control committees, hearings, subpoenas and which bills reach the House floor.
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Democrats have already signaled aggressive investigations of the Trump administration. California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, offered a blunt two-word warning: “Lawyer up.”
Trump Ready to Be “Mr. Veto”
Trump has made clear he is prepared to use his veto power if Democrats send him bills he opposes, jokingly describing himself as a possible “Mr. Veto.” He has also said he is open to working with Democrats. “I don't want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything,” Trump said after the election.
Overriding a veto requires two-thirds support in both chambers, which Democrats will not have on their own. Still, control of the House gives them the power to block Trump-backed bills and stop Republicans from passing another party-line package.
Republicans, meanwhile, face their own reckoning, with questions already swirling about Speaker Mike Johnson's future. The GOP still controls Congress through the end of 2026, setting up a lame-duck session with unfinished government funding work and only weeks left to move its priorities.