The left-leaning New York Times editorial board is cautioning Democrats, who just regained power in the House after Tuesday’s elections, against seizing on the chance to impeach President Trump with their new majority.
“Impeachment is neither a sensible nor a winning issue to open with,” the paper said Wednesday. “Even many Americans who dislike Mr. Trump will, absent overwhelming evidence of impeachable offenses, balk at efforts to remove a sitting president.”
Though Democrats took enough seats to win back the House, Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate, making Trump’s removal from office all but impossible if politics has anything to do with the decision.
Some Democrats, including Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., have aggressively called for impeachment. The Times said if findings by special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation implicate Trump directly, impeachment could still be an option.
“Democrats would do well to wait and see if the investigation by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, turns up high crimes and misdemeanors before deciding whether to pursue the painful and divisive path of impeachment,” said the Times. “If so, they’ll want to bring along at least some of their Republican colleagues.”
