Republicans Push Historic Effort to Expunge Trump Impeachments

A growing group of Republicans in Congress is launching a new effort to erase both impeachments of President Donald Trump from the official House record. Supporters argue the impeachments were politically motivated, based on flawed or misleading information, and damaged Trump’s reputation without proper due process. Critics say the move would be mostly symbolic and cannot erase the historical fact that the House voted to impeach him twice.

At the center of the effort is Darrell Issa, who introduced House Resolution 1211. The resolution calls for both impeachments, passed in 2019 and 2021, to be “expunged as if such Article had never passed the full House of Representatives.” The proposal has already gained support from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and more than 20 Republican cosponsors.

Why Republicans Want the Impeachments Removed

Issa argues that Trump was “wrongfully accused” and that new information released in recent years shows the impeachment processes were deeply flawed. He compared impeachment to an indictment that permanently damages a person’s reputation even after acquittal.

“The fact is that the Constitution doesn’t spell out what to do when you’ve wrongfully indicted somebody,” Issa told Fox News Digital. “If you are impeached by the House, famously where do you go to get your reputation back?”

According to Issa, Congress now has a responsibility to revisit those accusations because “the evidence is now out that there was withheld information and false information.” He said the goal is to “unring this bell” by holding another House vote and formally retracting the accusations.

Republicans backing the resolution claim Democrats turned impeachment into a partisan political weapon. Jordan stated, “Democrats weaponized impeachment against President Trump with politically motivated charges. We applaud Chairman Issa for leading the fight to expunge this sham from the record.”

The 2019 Impeachment and Claims of Misconduct

Trump’s first impeachment centered on allegations that he pressured Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden while withholding military aid. Democrats charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Supporters of the new expungement effort argue that recently declassified material undermines the credibility of the whistleblower complaint that triggered the impeachment inquiry. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released documents she said showed a “coordinated effort” within the intelligence community “to manufacture a conspiracy” used against Trump.

The newly released documents reportedly showed that the whistleblower had contact with congressional Democrats before filing the complaint and concealed that information from investigators. Republicans argue this demonstrates political coordination and bias in the impeachment process.

However, critics of the expungement effort point out that many witnesses still testified under oath about Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. According to reports summarized in the materials, several officials, including diplomats and military officers, provided firsthand testimony during the impeachment proceedings.

Even some legal observers who criticized the impeachment process did not dispute the central facts of the Ukraine controversy itself. That has created a divide between Republicans who view the proceedings as fraudulent and critics who believe procedural complaints do not invalidate the impeachment.

The 2021 Impeachment After January 6

Trump’s second impeachment came after the January 6 Capitol riot. Democrats accused him of incitement of insurrection. Republicans pushing expungement argue the process moved far too quickly and denied Trump due process protections.

Issa said lawmakers “impeached him for essentially an insurrection, a true high crime, and it’s false.” The resolution claims the House advanced the impeachment in just two days without a full evidentiary investigation or witness testimony.

Supporters argue this rushed process demonstrated political motivation rather than a careful constitutional review. They say the speed of the impeachment showed Democrats were more interested in damaging Trump politically than establishing a fair legal process.

Can Congress Actually Expunge an Impeachment?

One of the biggest questions surrounding Issa’s resolution is whether Congress even has the authority to erase an impeachment after it has already happened.

Supporters argue that because the Constitution gives the House the “sole Power of Impeachment,” the chamber also has authority over its own records and can vote to expunge prior actions.

Some legal scholars disagree. They argue that while Congress can issue statements of disapproval or annotate historical records, it cannot erase the fact that impeachment votes occurred. Critics say the move would therefore be symbolic rather than legally meaningful.

Legal experts remain divided. Some point to the Senate’s 1837 decision to expunge its censure of President Andrew Jackson as a possible precedent. Others argue impeachment is fundamentally different and cannot be undone retroactively.

Trump and the Long Campaign to Reverse the Impeachments

Trump and his allies have pushed for years to erase the impeachments from history. Earlier resolutions were introduced in 2022 by Markwayne Mullin and later by Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elise Stefanik in 2023. Those efforts never advanced through Congress.

Trump himself has repeatedly described the impeachments as a “hoax,” “witch hunt,” and “sham.” In April 2026, he amplified comments from attorney Alan Dershowitz suggesting Congress or even the Supreme Court should reverse the first impeachment. Trump responded that Dershowitz was “one of the greats” and suggested, “He should do it.”

Issa says this latest resolution is stronger than previous attempts because Republicans now believe they have additional evidence showing misconduct during the original impeachment investigations. He argues the focus should now be on “the misconduct of the accusation” rather than on Trump himself.

For Republicans backing the measure, the issue is not simply about history. They believe expungement would publicly declare that Trump’s impeachments were illegitimate from the beginning. As Issa put it, “When you’ve been falsely accused, whether it’s days, weeks, months or years later, somebody should be just as interested in printing that retraction on the front page as they were in putting the original charge on the front page.”