Recently, the freshly reinstated President Trump enacted an executive order that commuted the sentences of individuals held accountable for the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol incident. This was an action that was taken up as his immediate presidential duty on his inaugural day back in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2025.
Following this, a fabricated narrative started making rounds on social media from an X account known to share baseless and misleading information. The narrative claimed that there was substantial Republican support for an impeachment motion against President Trump.
Control of both houses of Congress currently rests with the Republicans. Even though an unidentified organization initiated an impeachment campaign against Trump, there’s no authentic reporting or evidence to show any reasonable success in obtaining support from House or Senate Republicans. To put it simply, the Republican-led Congress has no intention of impeaching President Trump, contrary to the unfounded claims presented by the dubious X post.
According to this X post on the PoliticsVideoChannel account, operators alleged they had spoken to 25 Republican Senators who were apparently eager to convict Trump over his application of leverage for individuals held accountable for the Jan 6 incident. However, attempts to confirm these allegations produced no reply, and no credible news outlets back these claims.
Trump took swift action on his first day back at the helm of the government, pardoning or commuting the sentences of over 1,500 individuals deemed guilty of crimes during the Capitol attack. While some Republicans expressed criticism of the broad-based clemency, no Senate Republicans have come forward to support an impeachment of Trump.
A few Republicans, notably disturbed by the choice to pardon individuals involved in the violent confrontation with law enforcement officers, voiced their discontent. These included legislators such as Sen. Bill Cassidy, who argued that those assaulting officers should serve their sentencing as per Politico’s report. Senators Thom Thillis, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins echoed these sentiments. However, it’s important to note that these very Senators had previously voted to convict Trump in 2021 for his alleged role in the Capitol affair.
Despite an unnamed organization pushing for an additional impeachment procedure against Trump as mentioned in a Newsweek report, there’s no evidence or signs indicating Republican support for such a move.
Recalling past events, Trump was subject to impeachment twice by the Democratic-majority House during his previous term. Both times, however, the Senate acquitted him.
Post Trump’s recent inauguration, viral claims on social media suggest an emerging momentum towards impeachment, but these claims lack substantiation. There has been talk of Reps. Alexandria Ocaso-Cortez and Jamie Raskin filing impeachment articles against Trump, but investigations have shown these claims to be false. Our research found no statements from officeholders of either party pronouncing Trump’s pardons as legitimate grounds for impeachment.
Given the Republican majority in the House, it is a near certainty that any impeachment effort against Trump would fail in the chamber itself. To successfully convict Trump on impeachment charges, at least twenty Republican senators would need to align with all Democrats. A glance at history tells us that the odds of this happening are slim.
Politics Video, the account that disseminated the unfounded claim about possible impeachment, along with its affiliated website, have garnered a reputation for spreading misleading narratives targeting Trump and Republican members. It is worth reminding that in January, the account, reliant on elusive anonymous sources absent in reliable reporting, speculated about impeachment against Trump at least eight times.
The same account also made a claim in December that then-Vice President Kamala Harris had the legal power to reject Trump’s election certification due to the January 6 incident. The facts, however, starkly contradict this viewpoint. The Vice President’s role in election certification is only ceremonious, not authoritative.
The X account emerged in February 2016, and its earliest public post dates back to December 2017. A preliminary investigation from FactCheck.org in 2024 linked the Politics Video Channel website to an Australian email address, further raising doubts about the account’s credibility.
In conclusion, claims about the Senate having the numbers to remove President Trump from office following a House vote to impeach lack weight and authenticity. It is obvious that the Republican senators, ever supportive of Trump’s presidency, have not implied a vote in favor of impeachment for any alleged new offenses.