Donald Trump is heading into the final stretch before the midterms with his approval rating in a downward spiral — and now a U.S. congressman has piled another political bombshell onto the White House by introducing 26 articles of impeachment against him.
Not exactly the headline Republicans wanted as voters prepare to head to the polls.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found Trump’s overall approval rating has fallen to just 32%, the lowest level recorded for him in the poll. Even more notable is what happened inside his own party: Republican approval dropped from 82% the previous week to 73%.
That’s still a substantial majority of Republicans. But it’s also a sharp drop from the 91% Republican approval Reuters/Ipsos recorded shortly after Trump’s second inauguration.
And the economy appears to be playing a major role.
The latest polling shows Trump’s standing has deteriorated as voters continue to grapple with high costs and the economic effects of the war with Iran. Reuters/Ipsos found particularly weak ratings for Trump’s handling of the cost of living, while dissatisfaction among Republicans has also increased.
Then there’s the congressional ballot.
The latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found Democrats leading Republicans 53% to 41% among registered voters when respondents were asked which party’s candidate they would be more likely to support for Congress.
That’s a 12-point Democratic advantage.
The Marist poll also found that 45% of registered voters described their congressional vote as mainly a vote against Trump, compared with 24% who said it was mainly a vote for Trump. Just 30% said Trump was not much of a factor in their congressional vote.
And it gets even more interesting when voters are asked about the issues.
Democrats held advantages over Republicans on the economy, 42% to 34%; foreign policy, 42% to 36%; and gas prices, 40% to 27%.
Immigration was considerably closer, with Democrats at 41% and Republicans at 38%.
Then came Thursday’s impeachment bombshell.
Rep. Steve Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat who is retiring from Congress, introduced 26 articles of impeachment against Trump.
Cohen’s resolution accuses Trump of multiple abuses of power, violations of his oath of office, misuse of the pardon power and violations of the Constitution’s emoluments provisions, among other allegations.
And Cohen didn’t exactly hide what he thought of the president.
He described Trump as the “most impeachable President our country has ever endured.”
Cohen has been down this road before. He previously introduced five articles of impeachment against Trump in 2017.
This time, the list is much longer.
The 26 articles include allegations involving Trump’s handling of elections, the war with Iran, military deployments inside the United States, birthright citizenship, federal funding, immigration enforcement, the Department of Education, tariffs, prosecutions of political opponents, the pardon power, the press, universities, the White House East Wing and alleged personal financial benefits from the presidency.
Cohen himself acknowledged that his impeachment effort is unlikely to advance under the current Congress.
But politically, that’s not really the point he was making.
He’s putting the allegations on the congressional record and arguing that lawmakers have a constitutional responsibility to challenge presidential actions they believe violate the law or the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Trump’s numbers are telling a separate story.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey shows that Trump still retains strong support among Republicans. But that support has weakened substantially compared with earlier this year, particularly on economic issues.
And that’s the part Republicans may be watching most closely.
The midterms won’t be decided by Trump’s national approval rating alone. House and Senate races are ultimately decided district by district and state by state.
But presidents don’t operate in a political vacuum.
When voters increasingly connect their congressional choices with the president in the White House, the president’s standing becomes part of the electoral environment.
The Marist numbers make that connection pretty explicit.
Nearly half of registered voters say their congressional vote is primarily a vote against Trump.
And now, with Trump’s approval at 32% in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll and 26 articles of impeachment sitting on the congressional record, the president is once again at the center of the political conversation.
Below are the 26 articles:
ARTICLE I: UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY—SOWING DOUBT IN ELECTIONS
ARTICLE II: ABUSE OF POWER—WAGING WAR ON IRAN WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL
ARTICLE III: ABUSE OF POWER—EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS OF VENEZUELA
ARTICLE IV: ABUSE OF POWER—DEPLOYING MILITARY FORCES AGAINST UNITED STATES CITIES
ARTICLE V: VIOLATION OF OATH—THE BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER
ARTICLE VI: ABUSE OF POWER—CANCELING FEDERAL GRANTS TO PUNISH STATES FOR THEIR VOTES
ARTICLE VII: ABUSE OF POWER—IMPOSING LOYALTY TESTS ON THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE
ARTICLE VIII: DISREGARD OF COURTS—THE ALIEN ENEMIES ACT AND THE CASE OF KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA
ARTICLE IX: VIOLATION OF OATH—CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT AT CECOT
ARTICLE X: VIOLATION OF OATH—UNLAWFUL WITHHOLDING OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS AND DISMANTLING OF CONGRESSIONALLY ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS
ARTICLE XI: ABUSE OF POWER—OBSTRUCTING THE LAWFUL APPOINTMENT OF UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS
ARTICLE XII: ABUSE OF POWER—DEFYING COURT ORDERS IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
ARTICLE XIII: ABOLISHING A CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED AGENCY—THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
ARTICLE XIV: VIOLATION OF OATH—UNLAWFUL MASS TERMINATION OF INSPECTORS GENERAL WITHOUT STATUTORY NOTICE TO CONGRESS
ARTICLE XV: UNLAWFULLY AND UNILATERALLY TAXING UNITED STATES CITIZENS THROUGH EMERGENCY POWERS TARIFFS
ARTICLE XVI: ABUSE OF POWER—POLITICAL PROSECUTIONS OF COMEY, JAMES, AND SCHIFF
ARTICLE XVII: ABUSE OF POWER—THE IRS SETTLEMENT AND THE CORRUPTION OF THE JUDGMENT FUND
ARTICLE XVIII: ABUSE OF POWER—THE CORRUPT USE OF THE PARDON POWER
ARTICLE XIX: ATTACKS ON A FREE PRESS—BANISHING REPORTERS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE FOR DISFAVORED COVERAGE
ARTICLE XX: ATTACKS ON A FREE PRESS—COERCING CBS AND ABC TO CHANGE EDITORIAL CONTENT
ARTICLE XXI: VIOLATION OF OATH—FREE SPEECH AND RETALIATORY EXECUTIVE ORDERS AGAINST LAW FIRMS
ARTICLE XXII: VIOLATION OF OATH—FREE SPEECH AND COERCING UNIVERSITIES THROUGH WITHHELD FEDERAL FUNDS
ARTICLE XXIII: ABUSE OF POWER—DEMOLISHING THE WHITE HOUSE EAST WING WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL
ARTICLE XXIV: VIOLATION OF OATH—THE ILLEGAL IMPOUNDMENT OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS
ARTICLE XXV: ABUSE OF POWER—SELF-AGGRANDIZEMENT THROUGH THE RENAMING OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, SEIZURE OF CULTURAL AND CIVIC PROPERTY, AND PERSONAL APPROPRIATION OF NATIONAL CURRENCY
ARTICLE XXVI: EMOLUMENTS VIOLATIONS—PROFITING PERSONALLY AND DIRECTLY FROM THE PRESIDENCY
