Rahm Emanuel says Democrats should focus on ethics reforms rather than impeaching Trump
Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel called on Democratic lawmakers Sunday to set aside plans to impeach President Donald Trump if they win a majority in the House, pushing them instead to pass an ethics reform package.
Asked directly on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” whether Democrats should take up impeachment in January if they take the House gavel, Emanuel said: “Short answer: No, because it’s not going anywhere, and it’s going to be a food fight, and it’s just going to be we return to the politics of fighting.”
Emanuel, who served as President Barack Obama’s first chief of staff, proposed that Democrats could instead “pass an ethics package” to address the corruption he said is taking place in the Trump administration.
In a September NBC News poll, government corruption emerged as the second-highest-rated issue voters were concerned about ahead of November’s midterm elections. On the airwaves, tackling government corruption and banning congressional stock trading has been a top issue in campaign ads from Democrats and Republicans.
Should Democrats take back the House, Emanuel said, they should “hold [the Trump administration] accountable, and then pass an ethics package.”
“You’re never going to get an impeachment,” he added. “Then if you do that, you just basically prove all Washington is what the American people think. It’s Disneyland on the Potomac. Deliver the change. Deliver a comprehensive ethics package that uses the investigations to then deliver change.”
In September, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who could be speaker of the House if Democrats win a majority in Congress’ lower chamber in November, said his party’s top priorities would be to tackle healthcare costs and affordability.
Jeffries has refrained from weighing in on calls from some fellow Democrats that the party should impeach the president if they take control of the House.
In a June interview with “Meet the Press,” Jeffries told moderator Kristen Welker when asked about a potential impeachment: “We haven’t ruled anything in or ruled anything out in terms of accountability. What we have said is that our focus is going to be to make life more affordable for the American people. We have to drive down the high cost of living.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., last month told “Meet the Press” that impeaching Trump was not a “taboo” topic.
“Everybody on our side understands that impeachment is a critical tool in the toolbox for constitutional self-defense against a president acting like a king, an imperious, lawless, arrogant king,” the Maryland lawmaker said, adding later in the interview: “Impeachment is not a taboo with us. It’s not a fetish with us.”
Trump was impeached twice in his first term but was never convicted.
Emanuel, who was also a two-term mayor of Chicago, is widely speculated to be considering a run for president in 2028.
The New York Times reported last month that he has been a crucial behind-the-scenes player in the 2026 midterms, helping his party recruit candidates and offering advice to party leaders and candidates.
The 2028 contest for the Democratic presidential nomination is expected to yield a crowded field of candidates, with nearly a dozen Democratic governors and members of Congress also fueling speculation that they’ll run.
Asked Sunday on “Meet the Press,” whether he’ll run for president in 2028, Emanuel demurred, outlining affordability and building a positive vision for the future as the two most important issues facing the next president.
“We’ve had two presidents back to back who’ve actually tried to restore a past that’s not coming back. Let’s build a future that we — actually, every American and every community in America is part of,” Emanuel said.
“To me, if I have what it takes to answer that, I’ll do it. If I don’t, I won’t. And it’s that simple a question,” he added.
