If Republicans Win Back House, They May Expunge Trump Impeachment

Even though this week saw the Senate’s trial of President Donald Trump draw to a close, the impeachment saga might not be over just yet. Several Republicans have said that if their party can retake the majority in the House of Representatives, there’s a chance they could expunge the articles of impeachment.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, explained how this would play out. “We can send a loud message when we come back in [that] this was a political partisan effort,” Roy said on Fox News. He and other Republicans have continually insisted that the impeachment of Trump was little more than a politically motivated attack on the president by Democrats.

Recently, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, told the New York Post that erasing the impeachment from the Trump presidency with a new House has historical precedence. He pointed to a Senate vote in 1837 which reversed a censure against President Andrew Jackson. “The precedent is there and I think ultimately with the things that are going to be coming out in the months ahead, it will be all the more appropriate [to expunge]. More and more people will see that,” Gohmert said.

Reps. Mike Johnson, R-La., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have voiced their support for expungement, the latter telling the New York Post that Trump “should have never been impeached in the first place.”

Although in practical terms, expunging Trump of impeachment won’t necessarily serve a tangible purpose, it will help reinforce Republicans’ narrative that the president was unfairly targeted by Democrats. They no doubt hope that this will help offset some of the bad odor Democrats are hoping will cling to Trump and Republicans well into November. Even better, Republicans hope to be able to turn the tables in order to cast Democrats as attempting to remove the president through illegitimate means.

For Republicans to get the votes needed to pass a resolution for expungement, they will need to flip 18 seats in the House.