Representative Peter Meijer acknowledged on Sunday that “I may very well have” ended my career after joining nine other Republicans who voted last week to impeach President Trump.

But in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Meijer — a Michigan freshman who succeeded Justin Amash, who joined the House as a Republican but became in independent in 2019 before voting to impeach the president that year — stood by the decision.

“But I think it’s also important that we have elected leaders who are not thinking solely about what’s in their individual self-interest, not what is going to be politically expedient, but what we actually need for the country,” he said, noting that his seat was once held by former President Gerald Ford.

Mr. Ford committed a “courageous act” — one that ended his political career — when he pardoned Richard M. Nixon after Watergate, Mr. Meijer said. Although he did not wish to mirror Mr. Ford’s electoral defeat, he said he wanted to ensure that political leaders focused on “the fact that we are a nation of laws, not men” and put the nation’s interest above that of their own careers.

Mr. Meijer said the last few days had been “absolutely gut wrecking.” Impeaching a president, especially one from his own party, he added, was not something he had ever wanted to do.

Amid the impeachment vote last week, Mr. Meijer said that Mr. Trump had “betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered.”

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