Republicans 'worried losing House of Representatives could spell impeachment for Trump - Independent

Republicans 'worried losing House of Representatives could spell impeachment for Trump'

One Democratic congressman has already introduced articles of impeachment

Alexandra Wilts Washington DC

Republicans are reportedly concerned that Donald Trump could be impeached if they lose control of the House of Representatives.

While chances were once slim that Democrats would retake the House in 2018, Mr Trump’s feuds with members of his own party and his lack of major legislative wins have made the possibility more likely.

Democrats need a net gain of 24 seats in the 2018 midterm elections to have a majority in the 435-member House.

'At least one' Republican trying to impeach Trump, says Democrat

“If we lose the House, he could get impeached. Do you think he understands that?” one top GOP donor said an exasperated Republican senator declared privately, according to CNN.

“Won't it be ironic that Steve Bannon helped get the President elected and impeached?” another top Republican official told CNN.

Since leaving the White House earlier this year, Mr Trump’s ex-chief strategist has declared war on the Republican establishment and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Mr Bannon, in an interview on Fox News, said that he’s putting together a group to challenge every incumbent Republican, except for Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

If Democrats win the House, they could vote on articles of impeachment, which have already been introduced by a Democratic congressman.

Representative Al Green took to the House floor earlier this month to say that Mr Trump’s response to neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, his attack on NFL players who knelt during the national anthem in protest, and his debunked claim that Barack Obama had wire-tapped him, had all undermined the integrity of the Oval Office and “brought disrepute on the presidency”.

If at least one article of impeachment receives support from a majority of members, the president is technically impeached, according to CNN.

The issue then moves to the Senate, which conducts a trial presided over by the Supreme Court's chief justice. If two-thirds of senators find the president guilty, he is removed and the vice president becomes president.

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No American president has ever been removed from office through the impeachment and conviction process.

A poll by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in August showed that 40 per cent of Americans – including almost 75 per cent of Democrats and seven per cent of Republicans – backed impeaching the President and removing him from office.

This was a big jump from the 30 per cent of Americans who supported the idea in February, according to NBC News.