Democrats Introduce Articles of Impeachment Against Pete Hegseth

Rep. Yassamin Ansari filed six articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing him of mishandling the Department of Defense and sensitive information, obstructing congressional oversight, and of being complicit in war crimes in Iran.

“Pete Hegseth broke his oath to the Constitution, put U.S. troops at grave risk through the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, engaged in abuse of office, and carried out unlawful military actions despite his obligation to refuse—including strikes on civilians and a girls’ school in Minab, Iran,” Ansari said in a press release.

Ansari, the only Iranian-American Democrat in Congress, announced last week that she planned on filing the articles of impeachment against Hegseth. The impeachment effort is unlikely to be successful given Republican control of the House, but should Democrats win the majority in November, it’s likely Hegseth would still be a target for removal.

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson wrote in a statement to NOTUS that the articles of impeachment were just “another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had here at the Department of War.”

“This is just another Democrat trying to make headlines as the Department of War decisively and overwhelmingly achieved the Presidents’ objectives in Iran,” Wilson wrote. “Secretary Hegseth will continue to protect the homeland and project peace through strength.”

The resolution is co-sponsored by eight other House Democrats, including Reps. Steve Cohen, Jasmine Crockett, Nikema Williams, Sarah McBride, Al Green, Lauren Underwood, Melanie Stansbury, Mike Quigley, Brittany Pettersen, Dina Titus, Dave Min and Shri Thanedar.

The articles largely focus on the U.S. military’ s conduct in Iran, including the impact of attacks on civilians, but they also point to Hegseth’s alleged personal misconduct and “Signalgate,” which a Pentagon oversight report said endangered U.S. troops.

The articles claim that Hegseth violated the law of armed conflict, resulting in a “large number of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure,” including for his role in a missile strike on a school that killed at least 175 people in March. They also focus on the strikes in the Carribean, part of a campaign targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats that has killed at least 170 people.

This story has been updated with a comment from the Pentagon.