"The boundless corruption is costly to the American people," said Hakeem Jeffries, leader of House Democrats, according to the AP news agency.
The increasingly gloomy opinion polls for the Republicans point to a shift in power in the House of Representatives - but probably not in the Senate - after the midterm elections on November 3. A majority in the House would give the Democrats muscle in the form of larger budgets, more staff and the ability to conduct investigations and hold committee hearings.
Could become new speaker
If abuse of power can be proven, "we will hold the bad guys accountable," says Jeffries, from New York, who is in line to become speaker in the event of a Democratic victory.
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and potential new chairman of the Judiciary Committee, describes it as a "gigantic" task to address what he sees as the Trump administration's "systematic corruption."
Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, has outlined five priority areas. These include the president's family's business dealings and dramatically increased income during his term, the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein documents, and the criticized efforts of immigration police ICE.
"We are already working on it," Garcia, from California, told the AP.
The Iran war, the intervention in Venezuela and the attacks on alleged drug smugglers at sea are other things that may come under scrutiny, as well as Trump's various construction and renovation projects.
“The beginning of the end”
Rick Wilson, a former Republican party strategist, points out in The Guardian that Donald Trump no longer appears to be the winner he once was. Unbridled inflation, sluggish courts, war and falling confidence figures are adding to the burden.
This is the beginning of the end. This is the decline. Despite his influence and his transgressions, the outlook for the country looks bleak right now. In fact, the negativity and pessimism among voters has reached levels not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter.
Trump has previously been impeached twice, but was acquitted in the Senate. Whether new trials against Trump or any of his ministers are pending remains to be seen, Jeffries told ABC News recently:
We have not committed to anything nor are we ruling anything out when it comes to impeachment.
The impeachment process is regulated in the US Constitution. The House of Representatives decides on impeachment charges while the Senate acts as a court and decides whether the person should be convicted.
A president can be removed from office by Congress if he is convicted of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
No US president has been removed from office by impeachment. Andrew Johnson (1868), Bill Clinton (1998), and Donald Trump (2019, 2021) were all impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate.
Trump's first impeachment (2019): Accused of abuse of power after pressuring the Ukrainian government for his own political gain.
Trump's second impeachment (2021): Involved "incitement to riot" linked to his unfounded claims of election fraud and the speech before supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump is the only president in US history to be impeached twice, as well as the only one to be impeached after leaving the White House.
Sources: US Constitution, History.com
