How many House members are required to impeach a U.S. president and does the current GOP/Republican caucus have the votes to impeach Donald Trump?
Executive summary
A president is impeached by a simple majority vote in the U.S. House of Representatives—currently 218 of 435 members if all seats vote [1]. Given Republican control of the current House and public reporting that Republicans have the votes to block impeachment in this Congress, the GOP caucus as a whole does not presently provide the margin necessary to impeach Donald Trump absent defections or a change in majority [2] [3].
1. What the Constitution and House practice require: a majority to impeach
Impeachment in the House is a simple-majority process: an article of impeachment must receive more yea votes than nay votes to pass, which in a full House of 435 equals 218 votes for passage [1]. Congressional practice has followed that rule in recent impeachment actions: the 2021 second impeachment passed in the House with 232 yeas, reflecting that simple-majority threshold in practice [4].
2. Current floor activity and how many representatives have supported moves against Trump
Recent floor action shows interest and movement but not a controlling coalition for removal: multiple resolutions to impeach or to advance articles against President Trump have been filed in the 119th Congress (H.Res.353 and H.Res.537), and at least one privileged motion forced a House vote [5] [6] [3]. On December 11, 2025, a Republican motion to table an impeachment resolution passed 237–140 with 47 Democrats voting present, demonstrating the dynamics of the current House and the capacity of the majority to sideline impeachment efforts [7] [3]. Civic and advocacy groups report 140 House members voted to advance one set of articles on that date [8], but that number is well short of the 218-vote threshold for passage if Republican leadership opposes further action [1].
3. Do Republicans have the votes within their caucus to impeach Trump right now?
On the available reporting, the answer is no: analysts and some reporters note that Republicans in the majority have the numbers to block impeachment initiatives this Congress, meaning a GOP-controlled House can prevent articles of impeachment from reaching the floor or from passing if leadership opposes them [2]. The December tabling vote was carried largely along Republican lines and illustrated the majority’s ability to table or defeat impeachment measures [7] [3]. While isolated Republican defections have occurred historically—ten Republicans joined Democrats to impeach Trump in January 2021—most of those members are no longer in office and current GOP leadership has signaled resistance to impeachment efforts [9] [4].
4. The Senate hurdle and why House passage is necessary but not sufficient for removal
Even if the House were to reach the 218-vote threshold and impeach, conviction and removal require a two-thirds majority in the Senate—67 senators—an intentionally high bar that the Senate has not met in past Trump impeachment trials [10] [2]. In the 2021 Senate trial, 57 senators voted guilty but that fell short of the 67 needed to convict and remove him, demonstrating that impeachment by the House would only be the first of two difficult hurdles [10] [4].
5. What would change the arithmetic: defections, flip of the majority, or additional evidence
The clearest ways to change the current calculus—according to reporting—are a significant number of Republican defections or Democrats regaining the House majority in a subsequent election; both scenarios would alter the 218-vote math [2] [11]. New investigations or developments that persuade Republican members to break with their conference could also shift the balance, as happened with a small number of Republicans in 2021, but contemporary reporting underscores that Republican control of the House now affords the party the power to block impeachment in this term absent those shifts [9] [3].