Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said Democrats would impeach Trump a third time with majority

- House Speaker Mike Johnson believes Democrats would impeach former President Trump a third time if they retake the House majority in 2026.
- He also expressed confidence that Republicans will not only retain but expand their narrow House majority, defying historical trends.
- Johnson cited Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" and a favorable electoral map as reasons for his optimism.
Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said Democrats would impeach President Trump for a third time if they gained the majority in the 2026 mid-term elections.
"Democrats would vote to impeach (Trump) on their first day," said Johnson, who conducted an exclusive interview with USA Today Network last week during a tour of his 4th Congressional District to kick off summer recess.
Trump is the only president to be impeached twice, both times when the Democrats held the majority in the House.
The first impeachment came in 2019 when he was charged with abuse of power related to alleged foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election and again in 2021 when he was charged with incitement of insurrection following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
He was acquitted both times in the Senate.
Johnson, a Shreveport native, said he would lose the gavel and Trump would be harrassed by Democrats if they flipped the House.
"Louisiana wouldn't have the speaker and it would be a miserable final two years for President Trump," Johnson said.
But the speaker said he believes Republicans will keep and expand their narrow majority, overcoming historical odds in which the president's party generally loses seats in mid-term elections.
"Only two times in 90 years has the (president's party) picked up seats, but we're going to defy that trend," Johnson said. "The demographic shift (to Republicans) is real."
Johnson believes momentum created from Trump's sweeping "One Big Beautiful Bill" that sets spending and tax policy and what he sees as a favorable electoral map will expand the Republicans' current three-vote majority.
"The people helped most by the (Big Beautiful Bill) are lower and middle class Americans who will feel that before they vote," he said. "I'm bullish on the mid-terms; I like our chances."
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the Paste BN Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.