Among its other consequences, Speaker Paul Ryan's retirement from the House increases the chance that President Donald Trump will be impeached.

Ryan's decision accelerates the ongoing competition among his deputies to become the leader of the GOP in the House. But it will also dispirit fellow Republicans, diminish his ability to raise campaign funds and encourage more vulnerable incumbents to retire.

All of that smooths the path for Democrats to recapture the House in November and hand Nancy Pelosi the speaker's gavel once again. And there's little doubt that a Democratic-controlled House would seek to impeach the president.

That's not a subject Democrats want to highlight as they woo swing voters on the 2018 campaign trail. More Republicans, in fact, highlight it in hopes of heightening alarm among their own supporters. Yet with 9 in 10 Democratic voters disapproving Trump's performance as special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation closes in, leaders of a Democratic House could not prevent a 2019 impeachment drive even if they considered it counterproductive.