10. April 2026

'Invoke the 25th!' Calls for Trump's Removal Grow in Wake of Iran Fiasco

WASHINGTON-- President Donald Trump’s threat to wipe out Iran — warning that “a whole civilization” could be destroyed — has triggered a sharp escalation in calls from Democrats to remove him from office, marking a break from the relative restraint many in the party had shown during his second term.

In the hours and days following the remark, dozens of Democratic lawmakers publicly raised the prospect of impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment, the constitutional mechanism that allows a president to be declared unfit for office by the vice president and Cabinet.

Although Trump later stepped back from the brink, agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, the episode has intensified political pressure on Capitol Hill and underscored deepening concern within the Democratic Party about the president’s conduct and rhetoric amid a volatile international crisis.

Lawmakers described a surge of alarm from constituents, with congressional offices inundated by calls and emails demanding action. The reaction, Democrats said, reflected widespread unease over the scale and tone of Trump’s threat toward a nation of more than 90 million people.

“We cannot excuse what the president said as a negotiating tactic,” Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, told reporters Thursday at the Capitol. “It is important that even though we were able to get this ceasefire, which I pray holds, that we hold this president accountable for what he threatened, because threatening genocide is not just against international law — it’s against our federal law, too.”

Despite the outcry, Democratic leadership and many moderates have stopped short of formally backing impeachment, recognizing that any effort to remove Trump would almost certainly fail while Republicans maintain control of Congress.

In the near term, party leaders in both chambers are instead focusing on legislation that would require the president to seek congressional authorization before launching further military action against Iran. A group of House Democrats attempted Thursday to advance a war powers resolution, but Republicans, who control the chamber, did not take up the measure.

“We need Speaker Johnson to call us into session,” said Rep. Emily Randall, a Washington Democrat. “The American people deserve that.”

At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s rhetoric, portraying it as part of a strategy that ultimately led to the ceasefire agreement.

Still, the political fallout has been swift. Congressional aides described an unprecedented volume of constituent outreach. An aide to Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said the office received a “ton” of calls and emails early in the week, many focused not only on Iran but also on the possibility of impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment. During a brief break Tuesday, district staff returned to find 75 new voicemails within an hour, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal operations.

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., said her office logged 257 calls Tuesday — the highest single-day total since her team began tracking constituent contacts. “My office phones have not stopped ringing,” she said at a press conference in Portland, urging colleagues to return to Washington immediately.

Democratic officials and strategists said the groundswell appeared largely organic rather than the result of a coordinated advocacy campaign. While some outside groups circulated legal analyses and talking points related to the 25th Amendment, there was no centralized effort to drive messaging, according to a Democratic strategist familiar with internal discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Instead, the response was fueled by what the strategist described as the “horror” of the president’s comments and the magnitude of the threat itself.

The backlash has not been limited to Democrats. Some voices on the political right, including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, also suggested Trump could face removal through the 25th Amendment, an unusual point of overlap in an otherwise sharply divided political environment.

Democrats have twice impeached Trump during his first term, with the Senate acquitting him both times. In his current term, House Republicans have already blocked multiple impeachment efforts, including resolutions introduced by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, with some Democrats joining Republicans or voting “present.”

Until this week, many Democrats had sought to avoid renewed impeachment debates, instead focusing their political messaging on economic issues and cost-of-living concerns following Trump’s narrow popular vote victory.

That approach shifted dramatically after Trump’s remarks Tuesday.

“Temporary ceasefire or not, Trump already committed an impeachable offense,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and Iraq War veteran. “Congress needs to get back to work and remove him from office before he does more damage to our country and the world.”

How House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries will navigate the growing demands remains unclear. Democratic leaders have scheduled a call Friday with members of the House Judiciary Committee focused on “Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment,” according to a person familiar with the plans.

Some lawmakers, while supportive of impeachment in principle, urged caution given the current balance of power. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said she backs impeachment but acknowledged the practical limitations while Democrats remain in the minority. She instead called on Republicans to take action, including considering the 25th Amendment.

Dean and other Democrats also criticized the emerging ceasefire framework as unstable and potentially unworkable, warning that the situation could deteriorate quickly.

Even so, she argued that Trump’s initial threat had already crossed a line.

“The president brought the entire globe to watch his madness,” Dean said.