Congress wrestles with how to expunge Trump’s impeachments

If Republicans attempt to pass a measure through the House erasing former President Donald Trump’s impeachments, they’ll be writing the playbook anew.

It’s never been done before, and some legal experts say it’s not even allowed under the terms of the Constitution, putting the GOP firmly in uncharted territory as lawmakers ponder whether to take the step.

“We’ve never had this before,” said Michael Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who specializes in impeachment. “The House has never done this before. Congress has never done this before.”

Mr. Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House twice, once in 2019 over questions about his dealings with Ukraine and again in 2021, after he’d left office, over his conduct surrounding the Jan. 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both times, the Senate failed to muster the two-thirds vote to convict him, with most Republicans calling the attempts a political hit job.

With the House now under GOP control, some of those Republicans believe they have the power to erase the impeachments from the books.

“He deserves to have that off his record as one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had,” said Rep. Max Miller, Ohio Republican. “And we have to be pragmatic in our approach and assess what is going to do the greatest amount of good for the American people.”

Expungement resolutions were introduced in June and Speaker Kevin McCarthy has signaled that he supports the idea, but has not yet scheduled floor action.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff, who led the first impeachment against Mr. Trump, called it “an absurd proposition” because the Constitution has no mechanism to undo an impeachment.

But he doubted that would derail the GOP.

“Just because it’s absurd doesn’t mean they won’t go through with it,” the California Democrat said. “The Republican leadership has shown a great fondness for absurdity.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, who led the second impeachment against Mr. Trump, agreed.

“We should start with the text of the Constitution,” the Maryland Democrat said. “There is no procedure for expunging an impeachment. So that doesn’t exist.”

Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana Republican, also wasn’t sure what expunging an impeachment would actually mean. But Mr. Zinke, who served as Mr. Trump’s Interior Department secretary, does believe his former boss was wronged.

“There’s only one Donald J. Trump,” Mr. Zinke said. “And anything with Donald J. Trump is always handled out of the ordinary.”

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York introduced the resolution expunging the 2021 impeachment. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, sponsored the one erasing the 2019 impeachment.

Ms. Greene said revelations since 2019 have vindicated Mr. Trump’s actions toward Ukraine while implicating President Biden and his son, Hunter, who according to an unverified FBI informant was using his father as a tool to extract business deals from Ukrainian and Chinese firms.

Mr. Gerhardt, one of the experts called to testify to Congress while the House was pursuing the first impeachment, said expungement “probably means nothing.”

“In my opinion, there is no power to expunge an impeachment and therefore, it’s rather, at least in my opinion, a pointless exercise,” Mr. Gerhardt said.

Only 20 people have been impeached, including three presidents.

None has ever had an impeachment expunged.

The closest analog was President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat who while not impeached was censured by the Whig-controlled Senate in 1834. Three years later, when the Democrats had control of the Senate, they voted to expunge the censure.

Mr. Gerhardt said that move essentially “ripped those pages out of the Congressional Record.”

The censure of a president was an iffy move in the first place, with no constitutional foundation and raising significant separation of powers questions.

Impeachment, though, is written into the Constitution with procedures that are well-trodden. The process also leaves an extensive record of a House investigation, Senate trial and the votes that accompanied both of Mr. Trump’s cases — all of which won’t be erased from the Congressional Record, the internet or American voters’ minds.

Mr. Gerhardt believed that Republicans’ quest to expunge Mr. Trump’s impeachments could lead to a dangerous precedent, especially while House leadership has warmed to the idea of launching an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

“If this House impeaches Joe Biden, you just opened the door to expunging that next time Democrats take control,” Mr. Gerhardt said.