Top Armed Services Democrat Backs Impeaching Trump as Harris Warns Against It, One Day Before Midterms

Adam Smith changed his mind. Whether his party follows him is the open question on the eve of the midterms.

Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told TIME in an interview a week before Election Day that he now supports impeaching President Donald Trump and is inclined to back proceedings against War Secretary Pete Hegseth. In May he had declined to commit.

"Trump has become beyond dangerous. He is just completely out of control in what he says and how he is governing," Smith said. "I think we have to try, even if it doesn't succeed."

Smith's reversal

Smith has served in the House since 1996 and sat through three impeachments. In May he told TIME that "every single time the person impeached got stronger after they were impeached than before."

What moved him, he says, is Ukraine. "When I saw how close he was getting to Putin and shutting off support for Ukraine, being more pro-Putin. I mean, that's a big part of it," Smith said. That is his characterization of Trump's Ukraine decisions, not an established finding.

The stakes for Smith are practical. If Democrats win the House, he is in line to chair Armed Services. That would put him at the center of investigations into the Pentagon's handling of the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28, along with its approach to Ukraine and military operations in Latin America.

Party leaders hold back

Smith is out ahead of much of his party. TIME interviewed more than two dozen Democrats and found a party broadly convinced that Trump's conduct warrants impeachment, but deeply divided over whether to try again.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told TIME that "the question of whether he committed impeachable offenses and whether we are going to pursue impeachment are two different issues." Sen. Adam Schiff of California said Trump's conduct is "very likely impeachable," then added: "The question is, is it viable?"

The math is the obstacle. Trump was impeached in 2019 and 2021 and acquitted both times. Conviction takes two-thirds of the Senate, and even a Democratic House win is unlikely to produce anything approaching that majority.

Kamala Harris made that argument bluntly in an interview published Oct. 27. "I think that going in the direction of impeachment is not a good idea, just to be honest with you, just because we have limited resources," the 2024 nominee said. She said the energy should go to "accountability" and "investigations," and added: "The votes aren't there."

Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., took a split position on NewsNation. He said impeaching the president is a constitutional tool that should never be taken off the table, and that he believes Trump has committed impeachable offenses. But he said he does not see any world in which the Senate gets a two-thirds vote to remove him, adding, "I don't think that's the best use of our time, especially when the American people are struggling with high gas prices, groceries, costs of living."

Hegseth is the likelier target

Smith argued that Hegseth could be a more politically vulnerable target. "There are Republicans who would support impeaching Hegseth who might not support doing it to Trump," he said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said last weekend that Hegseth "needs to be pushed aside by the president, or we're going to have to deal with that situation if he is not." Asked whether he would back an impeachment resolution against Hegseth, Jeffries did not commit. He said he would act consistently with his call for Hegseth's firing.

A resolution already exists. In April, House Democrats led by Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., filed six articles of impeachment against Hegseth. They allege "high crimes and misdemeanors" over the Iran war and the boat strikes in the Caribbean aimed at stopping drug flows.

The vote with the clearest path comes from a Republican. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who leaves Congress in January after losing his primary, says he will force a vote on impeachment articles against Hegseth when the House returns after the election. Massie accuses Hegseth of illegal conduct in Iran and other military campaigns. A Pentagon spokesperson responded to the impeachment proposal by saying Hegseth "has been a transformative leader for the Department of War."

Walkinshaw said he is a yes vote. He also claimed Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House home early to avoid the vote because he feared more Republicans would join. Johnson has not been quoted in these accounts responding to that claim.

Trump's response

Trump addressed the talk Thursday, Oct. 29, before leaving for a South Carolina rally. "I think it's terrible," he said. "All they do is they talk about impeaching everybody."

He defended Hegseth: "He's doing a great job. He's a great warrior." He also warned that "if we wanted to play that game, we could play it just as well." What he meant is unclear. He has previously threatened to veto every piece of legislation put forward during the second half of his administration if Democrats are in control.

The election math

The Cook Political Report now favors Democrats outright to win the 218 seats needed for the House. Cook rates 220 seats as solid, likely or lean Democratic and 198 as solid, likely or lean Republican, with 17 toss-ups.

Some Democrats have already pushed the issue. Rep. Al Green of Texas forced a vote earlier this year on a resolution to impeach Trump over his administration's immigration enforcement policies, including deaths during federal immigration operations. The move divided House Democrats, whose leaders have largely avoided emphasizing impeachment as they work to regain control of Congress.

The first test comes soon after Tuesday's vote. Massie says he will force a vote on his Hegseth impeachment articles when the House returns after the midterms, and Democratic leaders will have to say on the record whether they back it.

No date for that vote has been announced.