'We have to remove him': George Conway wants Trump impeached again

George Conway, once considered by Donald Trump himself for a post at the Justice Department (DOJ), called for the President's impeachment, along with his entire cabinet, at a primary debate for New York's 12th congressional district. "We have to remove him. It is not an option. It is something we have to do to save the country," Conway said. "He stands in the way, and he's making everything worse."

Conway, who switched parties and registered as a Democrat to enter the race, previously co-founded the Lincoln Project, a coalition of disaffected Republicans that made defeating Trump its singular mission. He shared the debate stage with the four other candidates—state assemblymembers Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, and social media personality Jack Schlossberg. The city's voters head to the polls for the primary on June 23, with the general election to follow in November.

The call to put impeachment above all other political priorities reflects a growing sentiment among Trump critics that the administration's behavior has moved beyond policy disagreement into an institutional threat itself. Conway is far from a fringe voice; he is a prominent lawyer married to Kellyanne Conway, who served in Trump's cabinet, making his opposition to the President all the more striking given his political roots.

Conway may be beating the impeachment drum, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is not marching to the same beat. Jeffries told CNBC that Trump's impeachment is not on the agenda if they reclaim a majority in the House this November, at least for the time being. "We haven't ruled anything in; we haven't ruled anything out," Jeffries was quoted as saying. Speaking at the CNBC CEO Council Summit in Washington, he argued the party would continue hammering affordability as its central message heading into the midterms.

The call may find a receptive audience among the Democratic base, where appetite for Trump's removal has been growing of late. Harry Sisson, a political commentator with a Democratic bent, has been among the loudest voices, repeatedly demanding the 25th Amendment be invoked over Trump's pattern of allegedly falling asleep in public and verbal stumbles. The latest on Friday, when the President was accused of dozing off as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin spoke to reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump is the only President in American history to have been impeached twice. The House first impeached him in 2019 for abuse of power (230–197) and obstruction of Congress (229–198), and again in 2021 for incitement of insurrection (232–197). Both Senate votes in 2019 fell short, 48–52 on abuse of power and 47–53 on obstruction, while the 2021 conviction vote reached 57–43 in favor, but still failed to achieve the two-thirds majority of 67 votes required to remove him from office.