New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie argues that Democrats must launch a third impeachment of President Donald Trump after the midterms — and while that effort might not be enough to remove Trump himself from power, it could be enough to remove some of his worst officials.

Bouie, an outspoken liberal commentator, laid out the case for another Trump impeachment in his latest "Takes" video, shared to YouTube (youtube.com/watch?v=nbPRVSHruzU). In it, he argued that the president's ongoing scheme to meddle with the midterms by imposing new rules on mail-in voting is unlikely to have much actual effect on the results. Instead, he said, it serves as a way to inject "chaos" into the aftermath and to give Republicans grounds on which to falsely claim that certain Democratic victories are illegitimate.

However that process shakes out, Bouie argued, the scheme nevertheless represents a "conspiracy" to subvert the Constitution, and it must be met with a new impeachment push if and when Democrats reclaim congressional majorities in the midterms — even if it would be difficult or impossible to actually remove Trump from office by doing so. Trump has already been impeached twice during his presidency — over his dealings with Ukraine in 2019 and his conduct around the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot — but was acquitted by the Senate both times, illustrating the practical difficulty of removing a president given the two-thirds vote requirement.

"The president is openly pursuing a conspiracy against the Constitution of the United States," Bouie explained. "Part of an ongoing, at this point what, 18-19 month assault on the Constitution of the United States, 20-month assault. You can't just let that lie. Can't take the position that because impeachment isn't going to result in removal, therefore we can't do anything about it. Therefore, we just have to leave that tool in the toolbox. No."

He continued: "Even if removal isn't going to happen, even if the final outcome, which is that nothing specifically happens to Trump, is in stone because of the high bar for removal under the Constitution, it's still important to engage in an impeachment trial to show the public that the president of the United States is engaged in an open conspiracy against their rights, against the American Republic. That is what's happening. It won't be a waste of time."

While Trump might be mostly safe from removal via impeachment, Bouie added that many of his most controversial and despised administration officials might not be. He suggested there could very well be enough Republican support in Congress to remove figures such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Steven Miller.

"And I'll say that there are other figures in the administration that you probably could remove through impeachment," Bouie said. "Russell Vought, Pete Hegseth, Steven Miller: as executive branch officials, they can be impeached. And I bet you would find some Republicans who wanted to remove them."

Under the Constitution, impeachment of executive branch officials can pass the House of Representatives with a simple majority. However, removing an impeached official from office requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate — 67 votes. While impeachments of presidents are rare, the impeachment power has historically been applied to other executive branch officials as well — most famously in the 1876 case of Secretary of War William Belknap, who was impeached by the House and tried by the Senate — a precedent that underscores that the tool Bouie proposes is not reserved for presidents alone.