House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries went on CNN's State of the Union on September 13 and delivered the most predictable sentence in modern politics: "We haven't ruled anything in, and we haven't ruled anything out in terms of impeachment."
Democrats don't even have a majority yet. They're already drafting the sequel.
Jeffries, appearing with host Jake Tapper, laid out what he framed as the Democratic master plan for accountability should they retake the House in November. He named Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Robert Garcia on the Oversight Committee as the two men who would lead the charge. Both are "doing a tremendous job," Jeffries said, because apparently the job description is now "plan impeachments before you have subpoena power."
The full quote is worth reading for the sheer density of meaningless buzzwords packed into a single breath. "As it relates to accountability, what we're going to do, led by Jamie Raskin and House Committee Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, as well as House Democrats on the Oversight Committee, led by Robert Garcia — we've got to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution, and then let the chips fall where they may." Follow the facts. Apply the law. Be guided by the Constitution. It sounds like a middle schooler reciting the preamble from memory and hoping no one notices he skipped a line.
Raskin wasn't any more subtle. He told reporters that impeachment "is not a fetish with us," which is a curious thing to clarify unprompted. He then called impeachment "a critical tool in the toolbox for constitutional self-defense against a president acting like a king, an imperious, lawless, arrogant king." Five adjectives. That's how you know it's serious.
"We will not hesitate to use it if we need to use it," Raskin added. The "if" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, given that they haven't identified a single high crime or misdemeanor. They've identified a campaign strategy.
Jeffries's remarks came the same week Republicans held their midterm convention in Dallas. Democrats watched the GOP dominate a news cycle with policy and enthusiasm, and their counter-programming was: elect us and we'll spend two years on another impeachment trial that ends in acquittal.
The first impeachment, over a phone call to Ukraine, ended in acquittal. The second impeachment, rushed through in a week after January 6, ended in acquittal. Both consumed months of legislative bandwidth, produced nothing permanent, and arguably boosted Trump's standing with the voters Democrats claim to be protecting. So naturally the plan is to run it back a third time, because the definition of insanity is only a cliché when other people do it.
Jeffries reportedly said in April that impeachment "would not be a top priority" if Democrats regained the House. Five months later he's on national television refusing to rule it out. That's a fast pivot, even by Washington standards.
Every minute Congress spends on impeachment theater is a minute it doesn't spend on the border, the deficit, or the price of groceries. Jeffries knows this. Raskin knows this. They're banking on the assumption that their voters care more about punishing Trump than about legislating. The midterms will tell us whether that bet was right.
Two impeachments. Two acquittals. Zero legislative accomplishments to show for either one. And the pitch for November is: give us the gavel so we can do it again.