Impeachment Looms Over Trump's Palestine Ethnic Cleansing Plan

Although Democratic lawmakers attempted to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump twice during his first term, with both efforts failing, they have launched a third, early bid to remove him following his inauguration for a second term (2025-2029).

While the previous impeachment requests were centered on domestic issues, this time, the significance of the impeachment push stems from its connection to the Palestinian cause.

Impeachment Over Palestine 

For the first time in U.S. history, a president is facing impeachment over a contentious foreign issue — Palestine — challenging the dominance of the pro-“Israel,” right-wing evangelical Zionist bloc in Congress and U.S. administrations.

The U.S. Constitution states that a president "may be removed from office on impeachment for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." 

Impeachment proceedings must begin in the House of Representatives, where a simple majority is required to pass them. 

The trial of the president must take place in the Senate.

However, in this instance, securing a two-thirds majority of Senate votes would be essential to pass the resolution for the president’s impeachment.

Impeachment, as outlined in the Constitution, is one of Congress's strongest tools for overseeing the executive branch.

While Trump has confidently advanced his plans to colonize Gaza and exert U.S. military might, the surprise came on February 5, 2025, when Democratic Senator Al Green declared that Palestine is now calling for his removal. 

Green confirmed that he would begin impeachment proceedings against Trump "over his comments about ethnic cleansing in Gaza," condemning the president’s “outrageous statements and actions.”

U.S. Congressman Al Green justified his impeachment request, saying, "Ethnic cleansing and Gaza is no joke, and the Prime Minister of Israel should be ashamed knowing the history of his people to stand there and allow such things to be said." 

He emphasized that ethnic cleansing has historically been a crime against humanity. 

“Injustice in Gaza is a threat to justice in the United States of America,” AI Green said echoing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous words, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." 

Ironically, AI Green, a Democrat from Texas, was one of the lawmakers who led multiple impeachment attempts during Trump’s first term, two of which failed to gain majority support in the Senate.

Trump is the only U.S. president to have faced impeachment proceedings twice, and now, for a third time. 

The first impeachment, brought by the House of Representatives in 2019, was related to his dealings with Ukraine, which were deemed election-related bribery. However, he was acquitted by the Senate. 

He was impeached once again in the final days of his first term over his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, but the Senate voted to acquit him once more, after he had already left office.

Trump's Impeachment Reignited

The third impeachment attempt comes after both Republican and Democratic members of Congress rejected Trump's remarks about forcibly relocating Gaza's residents and preventing their return, with some describing his plan as "blatant ethnic cleansing of Palestinians." 

Senator Chris Van Hollen told CNBC that Trump's declaration "amounts to committing ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians," while Congressman Jake Auchincloss told CNN it was "reckless and irrational" and could jeopardize the second phase of the ceasefire. 

Senator Chris Coons called the proposal "offensive and insane and dangerous and foolish," and Auchincloss drew parallels to former President George W. Bush's ill-fated promises about Iraq and Afghanistan, which led to 20 years of costly wars. 

Republican Senator Rand Paul also opposed Trump's suggestion, stating, "We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers' blood." 

Even staunch “Israel” supporter Senator Josh Hawley expressed disapproval, saying that spending U.S. funds in Gaza was an inefficient use of resources. 

A group called "Arab Americans for Trump," which supported the former president during the election, announced it would change its name following his plan to seize Gaza and forcibly displace Palestinians from the region.

In a press statement, the group firmly rejected the idea of relocating Palestinians from historic Palestine for any reason.

This move was not limited to submitting a request for impeachment to Congress; Americans also launched a petition demanding Trump's removal, which quickly gathered over 200,000 signatures just days after the start of his second term on January 20, 2025, according to Free Speech For People on February 6, 2025.

The petition, initiated by the nonprofit "Freedom of Expression for the People" on the day Trump returned to the White House, urges Congress to open an impeachment inquiry over his violations of laws prohibiting the president from receiving rewards from foreign governments.

It also highlights his actions, described by the organization as "illegal" and "corrupt," during his campaign and his pardoning of those involved in the Capitol insurrection.

The Possibility of Impeachment

The U.S. Constitution is clear on the process of presidential impeachment, stating in the 25th Amendment that a president can be removed from office following charges of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, if convicted. 

The Constitution also outlines the procedure for succession, stipulating that if a president is removed, dies, resigns, or is incapacitated, the vice president assumes the role. 

There are two main legal routes for impeachment: the 25th Amendment and congressional removal. 

A third, alternative scenario involves calling on U.S. administration officials and military leaders to disregard presidential orders. 

If impeachment proceeds through Congress, the House of Representatives can draft and vote on articles of impeachment, requiring only a simple majority to pass (with Democrats currently holding a slight edge over Republicans in the House). 

However, the real challenge lies in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is needed to convict and remove the president. 

Given the Republicans’ majority in the Senate, with 53 seats out of 100, and the historical difficulty of achieving impeachment in the U.S., securing the necessary votes would be a considerable hurdle. Currently, with Democrats holding just 47 Senate seats, they would need 17 Republicans to side with them—an unlikely scenario that diminishes the prospects for successful impeachment. 

‘History Repeats Itself’

Previous attempts at impeachment have echoed throughout U.S. history, notably with Bill Clinton in the 1998 Monica Lewinsky scandal, when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives brought charges against him, only for the Senate, with its Democratic majority, to acquit him. A similar outcome occurred in 1868 with Andrew Johnson. 

In the event that both the president and vice president are removed or incapacitated, Congress is tasked with selecting a new president, who will serve until the circumstances of the vacancy are resolved or a new election is held. 

Analysts suggest that initiating impeachment proceedings now would tarnish Trump's image, casting doubt on the legitimacy of his decisions and revealing deep political divisions within the country, signaling that millions of Americans no longer support him. 

The possibility of military leaders refusing to follow presidential orders, a form of de facto impeachment, has precedent. 

During his first term, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reached out to military leaders to ensure they would not obey Trump’s commands if he sought to initiate foreign military action, a concern that was voiced publicly in 2020. 

Similarly, during the Watergate crisis in the early 1970s, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger instructed military leaders to refrain from carrying out any nuclear orders from President Nixon without consulting him and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. 

While refusing a presidential order is typically illegal, constitutional scholars argue that disobeying unconstitutional commands could be justified, depending on the political context. 

Throughout U.S. history, no president has been removed from office, though three have faced the threat: Richard Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment, while Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton survived the process.