Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Sunday that if Democrats win back the House in November, a third impeachment of President Trump would be aimed at establishing a standard of constitutional accountability—not settling political scores.
Appearing on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Khanna told host Kristen Welker that pursuing impeachment would not be a misstep for Democrats, even as he described Trump as "increasingly irrelevant." He framed the effort as a defense of core constitutional principles.
"Impeachment says that you can't get into an illegal war in Iran without constitutional approval," Khanna said. "Impeachment says that you can't just start firing federal employees in defiance of what Congress says. Impeachment says you can't do deals with foreign governments to allegedly enrich your own family. It's about setting a standard."
Khanna argued that Democrats could simultaneously pursue impeachment and advance a domestic agenda focused on cost-of-living issues during their first hundred days. "The Democrats can impeach to uphold constitutional values, and at the same time, have a first-hundred-day agenda that deals with the cost of living," he said.
On foreign policy, Khanna urged the Trump administration to accept Iran's seven-day peace offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and implement a ceasefire, as surging gas prices stem from Iran's effective closure of the waterway. He said the U.S. could agree without accepting all of Iran's conditions.
"In my view, the biggest thing that we need to give the Iranians is an ironclad commitment that we will not have [a] regime-change war," Khanna said. "That's what they really care about. And you've got Trump going to the UN and saying we're going to blow them all up after he had said that we already blew up all their nuclear facilities, which obviously we didn't."
Trump rejected the Iranian proposal on Saturday, though Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Welker that Tehran awaits "an official response through the mediators." Araghchi said Iran is "fully prepared" to resume fighting if Trump authorizes strikes after the midterms. The standoff has drawn sharp warnings from Republicans, with some predicting a third impeachment if Democrats take the House, as reported in Jordan's warning on impeachment.
Democrats have not ruled out a third impeachment attempt spanning Trump's two presidencies. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has said senior Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees would lead any accountability efforts, including impeachment, should they retake the majority.
Some Republicans, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Trump himself, have predicted Democrats will impeach if they win back the House. Jordan told ABC News' Martha Raddatz on "This Week" that a third impeachment would not be for "legitimate oversight, but to just go after your political opponents."
"But that's just part of it. They're going to investigate the first family, they're going to investigate cabinet secretaries," Jordan said, naming FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as officials who could also face impeachment. The broader confrontation over Iran policy continues to shape the political landscape, as seen in Trump's rejection of Iran's offer.
