House Democrats plan to introduce five articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing him of abuse of power, war crimes and other serious misconduct.
The effort has virtually no chance of passing in the current Congress, but it shows that Hegseth is becoming Democrats’ main target in Donald Trump’s cabinet. They previously sought to impeach former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, both of whom Trump dismissed in recent months. With his long-running scandals and the current conflict with Iran, Hegseth has become the party’s most convenient target.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said: “This is just another attempt by Democrats to attract attention while the Department of War decisively and convincingly achieved the president’s objectives in Iran.” She added that Hegseth “will continue to defend the homeland and ensure peace through strength.”
The seven-page draft resolution focuses primarily on U.S. actions in Iran, the Signalgate scandal and Hegseth’s alleged personal conduct.
The resolution is being introduced by Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, who leads a group of first-term Democrats and is the first Iranian-American woman elected to Congress as a Democrat. She is backed by eight fellow Democrats—Steve Cohen, Jasmine Crockett, Nikema Williams, Dina Titus, David Min, Shri Thanedar, Brittany Pettersen and Sarah McBride. The initiative has also been endorsed by several progressive and anti-war organizations, including MoveOn, Indivisible and the Center for International Policy.
The first article of impeachment—“Unauthorized War Against Iran and Reckless Endangerment of U.S. Service Members”—concerns strikes on Iran without prior congressional approval. Hegseth is also accused of approving “plans involving excessive and unjustified risk to U.S. personnel and interests,” including discussions of possible ground operations.
The second article—“Violations of the Laws of Armed Conflict and Strikes on Civilians”—alleges that Hegseth “authorized, approved or failed to prevent” operations that caused significant civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Iran. The document cites the bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, as well as reports of so-called double-tap strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean. It also cites his statement that the United States would show “no mercy, no quarter for our enemies,” which the authors say “raises grave concerns about compliance with the Geneva Conventions and other binding norms of international law.”
The third article—“Negligence and Reckless Handling of Sensitive Military Information”—concerns the Signalgate scandal, when Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included in a Signal chat in which Hegseth and other senior officials discussed strikes on Yemen. The document says he “displayed gross negligence in handling sensitive and classified information” and “endangered U.S. personnel through his careless and improper conduct.”
The fourth article—“Obstruction of Congressional Oversight”—accuses Hegseth of failing to provide Congress with timely and complete information about military operations, and of “concealing material facts concerning civilian casualties and the nature of operations in Iran, Venezuela and other theaters.”
The fifth article—“Conduct Undermining the Reputation of the United States and Its Armed Forces”—alleges that the secretary “acted contrary to the public trust” and “undermined confidence in the integrity and competence” of the Pentagon. The grounds cited include the Trump administration’s socially conservative measures in the military—criticism of NATO, the rollback of DEI and affirmative-action programs, and restrictions on transgender service members.
Summing up, Wilson called the initiative “another farce meant to distract Americans from the significant successes achieved by the Department of War.”