Dozens of congressional Democrats called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office Tuesday after he used extreme rhetoric against Iran that included threatening to wipe out "a whole civilization."
More than 70 lawmakers, including a handful of senators, said in separate social media posts that Trump's Cabinet needs to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and declare him unfit to serve, Congress should impeach and convict him, or both.
"The House and Senate must return to session. The House must pass articles of impeachment, and then the Senate must vote to convict and remove the President. Or, the cabinet and Vice President, with congressional concurrence, must invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump," Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote in a statement on X.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he agreed with calls to invoke the 25th Amendment, adding: “No President in control of his senses would publicly promise to eradicate an entire civilization.”
“We need to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., wrote Tuesday morning on X. “Threatening war crimes is a blatant violation of our constitution and the Geneva Conventions.”
Khanna reiterated his position Tuesday night on MS NOW, adding that "we need to use all options" to remove Trump.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawmakers’ posts came shortly after Trump threatened Iran in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning, saying “a whole civilization” could die if Tehran didn’t reach a deal with the U.S. before an 8 p.m. ET deadline he had imposed.
Trump’s rhetoric sparked outrage from Democrats — as well as criticism from some Republicans — who said carrying out such threats would amount to war crimes.
The United Nations' official X account posted a reminder of the Geneva Conventions, adding that “wars have rules,” while its secretary-general, António Guterres, said, without naming Trump, that “no military objective” justified the “wholesale destruction of a society’s infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations.”
Less than 90 minutes before the 8 p.m. deadline, Trump said that he was suspending U.S. attacks on Iran for two weeks and that the countries were now engaged in a “double sided” ceasefire.
Still, many of the Democrats who had called for his removal earlier in the day doubled down after Trump's ceasefire announcement, maintaining that he should no longer hold office.
"Temporary ceasefire or not, Trump already committed an impeachable offense," Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said on X. "Congress needs to get back to work and remove him from office before he does more damage to our country and the world."
Trump was impeached twice during his first term. He was acquitted by a Republican-led Senate each time.
The threat of a possible third impeachment has been on Trump’s mind. At a policy retreat for House Republicans in January, he predicted that if the GOP doesn't win the 2026 midterms, he will be impeached once again by a Democratic-led House.
