A fierce new fight over Donald Trump’s “sham” impeachments is exposing just how far Democrats went to weaponize Congress — and how far Republicans can go to set the record straight.
Story Snapshot
- House conservatives have drafted resolutions to expunge both Trump impeachments from the House record, calling them unconstitutional political attacks.
- Trump and allies say the move is about clearing his name and exposing how Democrats abused impeachment to overturn voters’ choices.[1]
- Legal experts admit expungement would be mostly symbolic, but symbols in Congress shape history, headlines, and how our kids learn about these years.[2]
- The clash shows a deeper struggle over whether the Constitution protects presidents from partisan “lawfare” or can be twisted to punish America First politics.
Trump Allies Move to Erase ‘Sham’ Impeachments from the Record
House Republican leaders began laying the groundwork years ago to wipe out Donald Trump’s first-term impeachments, arguing they never met the Constitution’s standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” In June 2023, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced formal resolutions to expunge the December 2019 and January 2021 impeachments “as if such Articles of Impeachment had never passed the full House of Representatives.”[1] That language matters. It targets the official record, not just news spin or opinion pieces.
Those earlier resolutions spelled out why conservatives call both impeachments a political hit job, not a serious constitutional process. Stefanik’s measure said the facts used in the second impeachment never proved Trump committed high crimes, nor that he engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.[1] The resolution blasted how Democrats changed normal impeachment procedures, downplayed questions about the 2020 election, and leaned on a rushed narrative about January 6 instead of a full, fair investigation.[1] Supporters now want a Trump-era House to finally finish that fight.
Why Trump Says ‘I Did Nothing Wrong’ — and Wants Congress to Prove It
Donald Trump has repeated one simple claim from the start: he did nothing wrong and was the target of a partisan witch hunt. The first impeachment in 2019 accused him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over a phone call with Ukraine’s president.[2] The House impeached him, but the Senate later acquitted him on both counts.[2] For Trump and his base, that acquittal proved the case was weak, built on political anger at his America First foreign policy rather than clear constitutional violations.
The second impeachment, rushed after the January 6 protests, charged Trump with incitement of insurrection. Trump’s legal team argued that his words were protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and that Democrats were trying to criminalize political speech. He was acquitted again. Trump and his allies now say expungement is about more than pride. They argue Democrats turned impeachment into a routine weapon against a populist president they could not beat on policy, and that leaving those impeachments on the books rewards that abuse.[1]
Can Congress Really Expunge an Impeachment — and Does It Matter?
Even some critics admit the House can vote on a resolution to “expunge” an impeachment from its own journal and records.[1][2] There is no clear clause in the Constitution that bans the House from re-labeling or condemning its past actions. But legal analysts note there is also no specific process laid out to undo an impeachment once it has been voted on.[2] The Senate trials already happened, and the acquittals already stand, whether or not the House later regrets how it behaved.
Trump and his wacko disciples are seriously trying to expunge from the record his 2019 and 2021 impeachments, voted on by both parties. He’s a mental and political weakling who can’t handle the truth of his proven criminality in this case and on Jan 6th.https://t.co/fVYPkTXl2e
— Harvey G. Cohen (@CultrHack) June 13, 2026
Groups on the left, such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, argue that expungement would be only symbolic and would not change history or remove the impeachments from legal reality. Yet that complaint reveals why the fight matters. For the left, the “twice impeached” label has been a favorite talking point to smear Trump supporters and paint the movement as dangerous. For conservatives, a House vote to expunge would be a powerful public rebuke of those talking points and a warning against future political show trials.
A Larger Battle Over Constitutional Norms and Political ‘Lawfare’
The push to erase Trump’s impeachments fits a wider pattern in our politics: high-stakes constitutional battles do not end when the votes are counted. They turn into long fights over how history remembers them.[2] Trump’s supporters see impeachment, the Russia investigation, and many criminal cases as part of one campaign of “lawfare” designed to punish a president who challenged globalism, deep state power, and open-borders policies. They want Congress to say clearly that such tactics have no place in our constitutional system.
Critics respond that impeachment expungement has no precedent and could blur the line between honest oversight and partisan score-settling.[2] But many conservatives say that line was crossed years ago when Democrats turned impeachment into a quick-response weapon rather than a grave last resort. For them, expungement is not about hiding facts. It is about choosing which facts matter most: that a partisan House impeached Trump twice, or that a Senate, after hearing the evidence, twice refused to remove him from office.[2]
Sources:
[1] Web – Trump Develops Plan to Get His First Term Impeachments Expunged: ‘I …
[2] Web – Stefanik, Greene Introduce Resolutions to Expunge Donald Trump’s …