NEED TO KNOW

• Trump and allies are pushing a resolution to void his two impeachments, per WSJ
• Speaker Johnson is open to it; a resolution already sits in Judiciary
• The effort would wait until after midterms Republicans expect to lose

WASHINGTON (TDR) — President Donald Trump and his allies are discussing a push for Congress to expunge his two first-term impeachments, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, with Speaker Mike Johnson open to the move and the effort planned for after November midterms in which Republicans are widely expected to lose their House majority.

The big picture: The vehicle already exists; the new development is the principal pushing it and the calendar attached.

Freedom-Loving Beachwear by Red Beach Nation - Save 10% With Code RVM10

• Trump and his allies have discussed pressing lawmakers to pass a resolution voiding the impeachments, per the Journal
• Rep. Darrell Issa's H.Res. 1211 would expunge both impeachments "as if such Articles had never passed" the House
• The resolution has Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan's backing and 20-plus cosponsors since April

Why it matters: A successful vote would set a precedent without producing an effect.

• The Constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment, experts told the Journal
• The House Parliamentarian's office has said an expungement resolution carries no explicit consequence; the votes remain in the congressional record
• Practical implications are dubious because resolutions cannot revisit the votes or erase public memory of them

Driving the news: The timing is the most revealing detail in the Journal's reporting.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE THE DUPREE REPORT

• The effort would wait until after the November midterms, per the Journal
• Republicans are widely expected to lose their narrow House majority
• Johnson told the Journal that emerging evidence convinces him the impeachments were partisan shams and that a compelling case exists for expungement
• Jordan said in April the House was looking at expungement, citing declassified whistleblower memos from the 2019 case

What they're saying: The skepticism that killed prior attempts came from inside the GOP.

• Donald Trump, US President — "It should be done because I did nothing wrong."
• Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., during the 2023 attempt — "It sounds a little bit weird to me. It is what it is, it happened."
• Critics on the left call the effort a "show of fealty" to Trump

Yes, but: This is the fourth run at expungement, and everything that killed the first three is still standing.

• Resolutions introduced in 2022 and 2023 died without hearings, markups, or floor votes
• Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly promised Trump a vote in 2023, denied any deal, and never scheduled one as vulnerable members balked
• Waiting until after the election implicitly concedes the votes are not there while members still answer to voters

Between the lines: The schedule is the confession. A resolution with the votes would be scheduled before November. Planning it for after an expected loss points at one window: a lame-duck vote cast by members who will never face voters again. The reward for spending that window, per the House's own parliamentarian, is a vote that alters nothing in the record it claims to erase. Both parties fight over what impeachment means because neither accepts what it is: an indictment that twice ended in acquittal.

What's next:

• Nothing moves before November, by the plan's own design
• Watch whether Judiciary gives H.Res. 1211 a markup before the election as a base signal
• A future Democratic House could pass a counter-resolution; under the parliamentarian's guidance, neither vote would change the record

If an impeachment can be voted away by a later majority, what remains of it as a check — and if it can't be, what exactly are both parties fighting to control?

Sources

This report was compiled using reporting from the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, ABC News, The Hill, Newsweek, The New Republic, Just the News, Mediaite, and congressional records

Freedom-Loving Beachwear by Red Beach Nation - Save 10% With Code RVM10