Video shows House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announcing U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi “will be impeached.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy didn’t announce that his predecessor ‘will be impeached’
If your time is short
- House Speaker Kevin McCarthy didn’t announce that U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will be impeached.
- U.S. senators and representatives generally can’t be impeached. The Senate Historical Office says the legality is "ambiguous," and practically speaking, it doesn't happen.
A recent Facebook post is full of conviction but short on facts.
“It’s official,” the May 5 post says. “Nancy Pelosi will be impeached — Kevin McCarthy blows hot at Pelosi.”
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The post includes a nearly six-minute video of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaking at a press conference. But he doesn’t announce that his predecessor, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will be impeached.
Rather, the press conference happened in June 2022, before the Republicans took back the U.S. House and when McCarthy was still the chamber’s minority leader.
He was criticizing a recent hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. senators and representatives generally can’t be impeached. The Senate Historical Office says the legality is “ambiguous,” and practically speaking, it doesn’t happen. Only once in history — back in 1797 — has the Senate had the chance to affirm that a member of Congress can be impeached, and it passed on that opportunity.
We rate this post False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, May 5, 2023
C-SPAN, House Republican Leaders on January 6 Committee Hearing, June 9, 2022
PolitiFact, Impeach a member of Congress? Over 200 years of history say no, Oct. 7, 2019
