Democrats Submit Articles of Impeachment Against Pete Hegseth

House Democrats plan to introduce five articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Higseth on Wednesday.

This move, which has virtually no chance of passing given the current Republican majority in the House, will likely be largely symbolic, as the Trump administration’s unpopular war against Iran continues and Higseth’s popularity with Americans has plummeted in recent months. It could also reveal the Democrats’ intentions should they win a majority in Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

The articles of impeachment will be introduced by Representative Yasmin Ansari (D-Arizona), the first Iranian-American Democrat elected to Congress. The articles accuse Higseth of:

• waging an unauthorized war against Iran and recklessly endangering U.S. military personnel without congressional approval for the conflict;

• He is accused of “violations of the law of armed conflict and targeted civilians” during the war, including the bombing of a girls’ school in Minneapolis and a double airstrike against boats allegedly carrying drugs near Venezuela.

• The accusations include the reckless and negligent handling of sensitive military information, citing the Signalgate scandal in which Higseth inadvertently allowed a journalist access to classified discussions concerning strikes in Yemen.

• He is also accused of obstructing oversight of his office, including failing to provide Congress with complete and timely information on military operations.

• Finally, he is accused of conduct that damages the reputation of the United States and its armed forces, including undermining public confidence in the integrity and competence of the Department of Defense.

At least eight Democratic members of Congress co-sponsored the bill.

Ansari announced his intention to file a lawsuit against Higseth on April 6, asserting that the war in Iran never received the congressional authorization required by the U.S. Constitution and that the administration was complicit in war crimes.

Ansari stated, “Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his cronies. Hegseth’s deliberate endangerment of American service members’ lives, his repeated war crimes, including the bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, and his deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure, constitute sufficient grounds for his removal from office.”

In a statement earlier this month, Ansari also called on members of the Trump administration and Republican members of Congress to recognize the dangerous nature of Trump’s recent actions and invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

Ansari stated:

“As the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled this regime, and as an American Congresswoman who swore an oath to the United States Constitution, I know that this cannot go on. The 25th Amendment exists for a reason; his Cabinet should use it. The fate of U.S. troops, the Iranian people, and the very foundation of our global system are at stake.”

The White House reacted with strong displeasure to the impeachment announcement. Pentagon spokesman Kingsley Wilson stated: “This is yet another attempt to distract Americans from the successes we have achieved within the Department of Defense.”

However, opinion polls show that John Higseth is unpopular with the American public.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in March, only 37% of Americans approved of Mr. Higseth’s performance as Secretary of Defense, while 52% disapproved. This percentage has likely doubled since the continuation of the Iran-Iraq War and the conflict’s growing economic impact on Americans. A CNN poll conducted earlier this month indicated that 35% of respondents approved of Mr. Higseth’s performance and 65% disapproved.