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Donald Trump is pressing Congress to erase one of the darkest chapters of his political career, urging Republicans to pass a resolution that would symbolically nullify the two impeachments he suffered during his first term in office.
The effort, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by a White House official, would allow Trump to claim a symbolic victory on a key grievance from his first term. But experts say it would have little legal significance, since the constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment.
Trump is the first president in US history to be impeached twice. The first case, in 2019, centred on allegations that he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a political rival. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.
The second followed the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, when members of Congress accused him of inciting an insurrection. He was again acquitted after leaving office.
According to the Journal, Trump and his allies are seeking a congressional resolution that would effectively expunge the impeachments from the historical record. While such a measure would carry no legal force, supporters view it as a symbolic repudiation of what they regard as politically motivated proceedings.
Any attempt to revisit the impeachments is likely to reopen some of the most contentious episodes of Trump’s political life at a moment when Republicans are preparing for next year’s midterm elections. Critics argue that the strategy risks drawing renewed attention to the very allegations the president would prefer to consign to history.
Speaking on CNN, the political commentator SE Cupp questioned the wisdom of the move. “What are you thinking?” she said. “He’s not thinking ahead. All the reasons he was impeached get dredged up again, and we’re all talking about it around a midterm election.”
Democrats duly seized on this argument. Ted Lieu, a Democratic representative from California who served as one of the House impeachment managers during Trump’s second impeachment trial, wrote on social media: “As a former impeachment manager, I plead with you to please bring up Trump’s prior impeachments.
“Let’s hold hearings, call witnesses and show videos to remind people what happened. And please make every Republican in a swing district vote on this. Thank you.”
Adam Schiff, the California senator who was the lead impeachment manager in the first impeachment trial of Trump, dismissed the effort as futile.
“There is no expunging the stain of Trump’s two impeachments,” he wrote. “Or avoiding the conclusion that the president cares little about the economic hardships of the American people. His priority is only, ever, Donald Trump.”
Trump was only the third US president to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both men were acquitted by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before the House could vote on articles of impeachment over the Watergate scandal.
Since returning to office, Trump has repeatedly portrayed the impeachments as part of a broader campaign by political opponents and government institutions to undermine him.
But constitutional scholars note that the US constitution contains no mechanism for reversing or cancelling an impeachment once it has occurred. As a result, any congressional resolution would amount largely to a political statement rather than a substantive legal action.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, defended the proposal, accusing Democrats of pursuing partisan vendettas against the president.
“Trump-deranged Democrats have spent years launching phoney attacks against the president and weaponising the government against him,” she said.
“It’s no surprise that sane individuals are recognising these sham efforts and are interested in undoing those shameful actions. President Trump remains focused on one thing: doing what’s best for the American people.”
