Oct 6, 2019

Trump's impeachment poll warnings

Data: Nixon survey by Gallup, Clinton survey by CNN, Trump survey by Monmouth University. (The Gallup question changed from "Do you think President Nixon should be impeached and compelled to leave the Presidency, or not?" to "Do you think his actions are serious enough to warrant his being removed from the Presidency, or not?" after Feb. 1974.) Chart: Axios Visuals

Public support for President Trump's impeachment is higher than it was for Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton when the House launched impeachment inquiries against them.

Why it matters: Support for impeachment of Trump is still less than half the country — 44% in the Monmouth University poll shown here; 47% in a CNN poll. And the polling reflects a 50-50 country. But the Ukraine scandal is pushing the numbers up.

Per CNN: "The change since May has largely come among independents and Republicans. ... [S]upport for impeachment and removal has risen 11 points to 46% among independents and 8 points to 14% among Republicans."

Keep in mind: A majority of the public didn't support impeaching Nixon until a few weeks before he resigned.

But as the WashPost's Philip Bump pointed out, "Trump doesn’t look like Nixon"— Trump's approval rating is still in the low 40% range, while Nixon fell to 25% at the height of Watergate.

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Zachary Basu

House Democrat says Trump's abuses make Watergate look like "child's play"

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, argued against the idea that impeaching President Trump without a conviction in the Senate will have "no effect," telling Fox News' Chris Wallace on Sunday that Trump's abuses of power involving Ukraine are so extreme that they "require a response."

Go deeperNov 3, 2019

David Nather, Mike Allen

Trump's speedy impeachment process

Chart: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

It's been nearly one month since Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24.

Why it matters: It's remarkable how fast it has gotten off the ground. You can see how quickly the Ukraine phone call came out of nowhere to become the all-consuming impeachment topic — way faster than the impeachment inquiries into Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.

Go deeperOct 22, 2019

David Nather, Margaret Talev

Impeached and re-elected

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

It’s looking more likely by the day that President Trump will be impeached by the House for his dealings with Ukraine. But if he is acquitted by the Senate — and then goes on to win a second term — Democrats will face a predicament neither party has confronted in U.S. history.

Why it matters: If Trump survives politically and is re-elected to serve another four years, Congress likely would have nowhere left to go in the event of another scandal, legal and political experts say — not because the House couldn’t impeach him again, but because it might be politically impossible to do so.

Go deeperOct 10, 2019