The Impeach-O-Meter is a wildly subjective and speculative daily estimate of the likelihood that Donald Trump leaves office before his term ends, whether by being impeached (and convicted) or by resigning under threat of same.
The most unexpected thing that happened in Washington this week—and really the most unexpected thing that has probably happened in the entire Trump presidency—is that he agreed to Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi’s plan to raise the debt ceiling in a way that gives Democrats strategic leverage going forward and suggests that Trump may plan to work with them further on issues like DACA.
Of course, if Trump even does have a “plan” to do this, it could be derailed by anything, including Fox News, the imminent introduction of his likely-to-be-regressive tax plan, or squirrels. Still, with far-right figures Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka having been booted from the White House, and Jeff Sessions perennially in the dog house because of his Russia recusal, and Trump still being annoyed that Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan couldn’t pass health care legislation, it does seem like this would be the moment that a more moderate—and thus less blazingly unpopular—POTUS could at least temporarily emerge. Let’s lower the meter.
Photo illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo. Photos by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Win McNamee/Getty Images, Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images, Drew Angerer/Getty Images, and Peter Parks-Pool/Getty Images.
