Why House Democrats want to impeach Pete Hegseth
House Democrats have chosen a new target in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Democratic lawmakers plan to introduce five articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Wednesday, most of them connected to the war in Iran, Axios reports.
Earlier attempts to impeach Cabinet officials failed. But the targets of those efforts have since left the administration: former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
In a statement to Axios, the Pentagon described the impeachment articles as “just another Democrat trying to make headlines.” The statement claimed the military had “decisively and overwhelmingly achieved the President’s objectives in Iran” and said Hegseth “will continue to protect the homeland and project peace through strength.”
Impeachment articles against Hegseth
With Republicans holding a majority in the House, the impeachment articles are unlikely to pass. Even if they did, a two-thirds vote of the Senate would be required to remove him from office, and Republicans also are in the majority in that chamber.
Still, the impeachment attempt gives Democrats a chance to air their grievances with Hegseth, which have only grown as the Iranian conflict intensified.
The first article of impeachment focuses on Hegseth’s lack of congressional approval before the attack on Iran, calling it an “unauthorized war against Iran and reckless endangerment of United States servicemembers.”
It says the operation in the Middle East knowingly placed members of the armed forces at risk and lacked clear, defined objectives.
Article two focuses on targeting civilians during the war, citing the attack on a girls’ elementary school that killed more than 175 people. A preliminary investigation found that the U.S. military accidentally targeted the school, although a formal inquiry is not yet complete.
The third article accuses Hegseth of “negligence and reckless handling of sensitive military information.” It details the Singlegate scandal, in which Hegseth reportedly sent messages about airstrikes in Yemen to a group chat on the messaging app Signal.
The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was accidentally added to the chat. Now, Democrats are calling the episode “a betrayal of the trust placed in him and a dereliction of his duty to safeguard national security.”
The final two articles focus on a lack of transparency, accusing Hegseth of obstructing congressional oversight and abusing his power by politicizing the armed forces.
These articles claim Hegseth failed to “provide timely and complete information regarding military operations” to Congress.
Previous impeachment efforts against Trump’s cabinet
The impeachment articles are similar to those introduced against Noem and Bondi earlier this year. While those also failed to move through Congress, both Noem and Bondi were inevitably ousted from office when they lost favor with Trump.
Congress introduced three articles of impeachment against Noem in January, and Trump fired her less than two months later. In Bondi’s case, Congress filed five articles in March, and she was ousted just a couple of weeks later.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
