Former Vice President Kamala Harris is urging her party to steer clear of a third impeachment of President Donald Trump if Democrats win control of the House in next week’s midterm elections.
Harris made the comments Tuesday during an interview with Aaron Parnas of the left-leaning MeidasTouch network. Parnas asked what she would recommend to Democratic congressional leaders if the party wins the House and Senate, including whether they should pursue investigations and potentially impeachment.
Harris did not mince words.
“I think that going in the direction of impeachment is not a good idea,” Harris said.
The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, who lost to Trump, argued that the party has limited resources and should channel its energy and time into investigations and what she called accountability instead.
Harris also pointed to her own experience in the Senate during Trump’s first term, when she sat as a juror in his impeachment trials. She noted that the votes simply weren’t there to convict the president then, a hurdle that would almost certainly remain. Removing a president from office requires a two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, in the Senate, a threshold neither party is expected to come close to reaching after the Nov. 3 elections.
Trump was impeached twice by the Democratic-controlled House during his first term. The first came in December 2019 over his withholding of congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine. The second followed his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. In both cases, the Senate fell short of the votes needed to convict, and Trump was acquitted.
While Harris cautioned against impeachment, she made clear she is not calling on Democrats to go easy on the president. The former vice president has previously urged her party to be ruthless in confronting the Trump administration. In the interview, she clarified that she does not mean cruel, but rather uncompromising, arguing that Democrats should stop worrying about being genteel and focus on getting results. She said Democrats must be relentless in reversing what she claimed Trump and his allies have taken from Americans.
Her remarks put her at odds with some voices on the progressive left who have openly called for impeachment proceedings should Democrats regain the House gavel.
Democrats are widely favored to flip the House, which Republicans have narrowly controlled since 2023. Decision Desk HQ gives Democrats roughly an 80% chance of retaking the lower chamber, where they need to pick up just three seats. Even former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said this week that Democrats will “probably” win the House.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has dismissed those predictions, insisting Republicans will hold their majority and he will remain speaker.
Republicans have long warned that a Democratic House majority would spend the next two years targeting Trump with investigations and impeachment efforts rather than tackling issues like the cost of living. Harris’ comments suggest at least one prominent Democrat sees investigations, not impeachment, as the path forward.
Harris has kept a relatively high profile since leaving office, campaigning for Democratic candidates ahead of the midterms and fueling speculation about another White House run in 2028.
[READ MORE: Trump Says He Will Respect Midterm Results “If They’re Honest Elections”]
