Hakeem Jeffries voted "present" when Democrats tried to impeach Donald Trump two weeks ago.
Now a Democrat who won't even be in Congress next year filed 26 new impeachment articles.
What Congressman Steve Cohen put in those 26 articles tells you exactly what Democrats plan to do on day one if they retake Congress.
Jeffries Voted Present and His Party Filed 26 More Articles Anyway
Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen dropped a 26-article impeachment resolution against President Trump on September 24.
Cohen is a lame-duck congressman.
Tennessee Republicans redistricted him out of existence in May, and he's not running for re-election.
He won't be in Congress in January.
https://twitter.com/MatthewNichol5/status/2104584795674034177?s=20
But he's filing the blueprint for what a Democrat House majority would do in January.
That's the tell.
Cohen didn't file this because he expects it to pass.
He filed this because Democrats need a written game plan ready the moment they win the gavel.
The resolution covers everything – military operations near Venezuela, ending birthright citizenship, mass deportations, the Department of Education, pardons, emoluments, and 19 more articles.
Twenty-six total charges against a president whose America First policies are popular enough to keep his party within striking distance of the House majority.
What Jeffries Voting Present Actually Means
Nine days before Cohen filed his 26 articles, the House voted 232-147 to table Al Green's separate impeachment attempt.
Jeffries voted present.
Katherine Clark voted present.
Pete Aguilar voted present.
The three top House Democratic leaders – the people who would run the House if Democrats win in November – couldn't bring themselves to vote yes on impeachment.
They didn't vote to impeach.
They didn't vote against impeachment.
They voted to look the other way.
That vote told you everything about where the Democrat Party actually stands – they want the political benefit of impeachment without the political liability.
https://twitter.com/RepCohen/status/2103218388122337453?s=20
Cohen's 26-article resolution gives the leaders who voted present in September a ready-made excuse in January.
The blueprint was already written.
They just have to execute it.
Cohen himself admitted that's exactly what this is.
He called it a roadmap for the 120th Congress, saying he "sincerely" believes that Congress "will better live up to its duties as co-equal branch of government."
The man who won't be there in January is writing the instructions for the people who will be.
That's not an oversight.
That's a setup.
Democrats Have Run This Play Before and Lost Every Time
Cohen admitted this follows a pattern he started in 2017.
"In 2017, I introduced 5 articles of impeachment against President Trump," he said, "and today, I am compelled to introduce 26 more."
Five articles in the first term.
Twenty-six now.
Democrats spent Trump's entire first term perfecting the impeachment playbook – twice impeaching him and twice failing to convict in the Senate.
Trump won the presidency again in 2024 anyway.
Ken Starr warned America this would happen.
He told Fox News in 2019 that Democrats were pursuing "the most partisan approach in the history of the Republic" and predicted impeachment would see "increasing utilization" going forward.
https://twitter.com/gatewaypundit/status/2104583156397682749?s=20
He was right on both counts.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called the first Trump impeachment "the first purely partisan presidential impeachment since the wake of the Civil War."
That was with two articles.
Now we're at 26.
Democrats aren't hiding what they'll do if they win the House in November.
Cohen put it in writing so they don't have to say it out loud.
Jeffries gets the gavel and the impeachment checklist arrives the same day – already written by a man who won't even be there to see it.
Sources:
- Bob Price, "PREVIEW OF A MIDTERM RECKONING: House Democrat Drops Massive 26-Article Impeachment Resolution Against Trump," Breitbart, September 26, 2026.
- A.R. Hoffman, "Democrat Unveils 26 Articles of Impeachment Against Trump, Foreshadowing What May Come If House Flips," The New York Sun, September 26, 2026.
- "House tables Trump impeachment as Democratic leaders vote 'present'," The Hill, December 11, 2025.
- "Ken Starr: Trump's partisan, 'weaponized' impeachment will be 'unprecedented in American history'," Fox News, 2019.
- "McConnell Remarks on House Democrats' Impeachment of President Trump," Republican Leader, 2019.
