Dozens of Democrats call for Trump's removal after his Iran threats

More than 70 House Democrats demanded President Trump be removed from office Tuesday after he posted on Truth Social that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," setting an 8 p.m. ET deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face massive military strikes. Even a last-minute ceasefire, announced roughly 90 minutes before the deadline expired, did not quiet the calls.

The pressure had been building since Trump first issued his ultimatum on Saturday, then escalated it at a White House press conference on Monday, April 6, demanding Iran agree to the "complete, immediate, and safe opening" of the Strait of Hormuz or face bombing strikes on civilian and military targets alike. U.S. forces had already acted, striking military targets on Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export terminal, the night before Tuesday's deadline. Legal experts warned that the threatened strikes on civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime under international law. Brent crude topped $115 per barrel as the rhetoric intensified.

The constitutional tools Democrats invoked share a common obstacle: they have almost never worked. Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, ratified February 10, 1967, in the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination, allows the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to declare a sitting president unfit and remove him involuntarily. It has never been successfully invoked in American history. Previous calls to use it against Trump surfaced during his first term and again just days before this crisis, following an erratic Easter Sunday social media post. Ty Cobb, who served as White House counsel in Trump's first term and has since become a critic, also weighed in on the debate. Impeachment faces a steeper path still: with Republicans controlling both chambers, any articles passed by the House would almost certainly fall short of the two-thirds Senate threshold required for conviction. Congress was on recess during the crisis, and Democrats demanded Republican leaders reconvene members immediately.

Among those calling most publicly for removal: Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin called Trump "too unhinged, dangerous, and deranged to have the nuclear codes." Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota called for Trump to be "impeached" and "removed." Rep. Diane DeGette of Colorado formally called on the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, and warned that if it refused, Congress must return from recess and begin impeachment proceedings. Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois said Trump had "reached a new level of unhinged." Rep. Sarah McBride described the president's threat as "genocidal" and among his most "dangerous and appalling." Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, who is of Iranian origin, announced she would bring forward articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth, whom she referred to as "Secretary of War," and separately called for invoking the 25th Amendment.

The calls gained an unusual dimension when former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, also called for Trump's removal.

The ceasefire came after Iran submitted a 10-point proposal that Trump described as a "workable basis" for negotiations, with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif serving as mediator and publicly seeking the pause. By that point, hundreds of Iranian civilians had already answered a government call to position themselves as human shields at power plants nationwide.

The White House denied any plans to use nuclear weapons after Trump's language, combined with comments from Vice President JD Vance, stoked fears of nuclear escalation. Iran's military called Trump's warnings "rude, arrogant, and delusional." For the more than 70 Democrats who went on record Tuesday, a ceasefire struck with 90 minutes to spare was not an absolution; it was evidence.