Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar<\/a> accused Hegseth of murder and \u201cextrajudicial killings\u201d related to deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean last September.\u00a0<\/p>\nThanedar\u2019s resolution also accuses Hegseth of mishandling classified information about an impending military operation in Yemen in March 2025, after an aide inadvertently added a journalist to a group chat on Signal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 1876, the House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap for taking over $40,000 in bribes. He resigned before the trial, which proceeded anyway. The Senate acquitted him on all five articles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, the GOP-controlled House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on a 214-213 vote. The articles alleged that he had endangered the public by \u201cwillfully and systemically\u201d refusing to enforce immigration laws and by failing to control the border.<\/p>\n
The Senate, controlled by Democrats at the time, killed the Mayorkas impeachment without a trial after finding the allegations fell well short of \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors.\u201d<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/04\/07\/hegseth-impeachment-ansari\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org”>Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArizona Rep. Ansari targets Hegseth for impeachment over Iran war<\/p>\n
Natalie Ogami, Cronkite News
\nApril 7, 2026<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2013 Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Phoenix, plans to file articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, accusing him of violating U.S. law and the Geneva Convention.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys,\u201d Ansari said in a statement announcing the impeachment push. \u201cHegseth\u2019s reckless endangerment of U.S. servicemembers and repeated war crimes \u2026 are grounds for impeachment and removal from office.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not uncommon for House members to draft articles of impeachment, but only two Cabinet members have ever actually been impeached. One resigned before trial in the Senate. The other effort died before trial.<\/p>\n
Her announcement Monday came on the heels of President Donald Trump\u2019s threat on Sunday to bomb Iranian infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cTuesday will be Power Plant Day and Bridge Day,\u201d he said in a profane Easter message directing Iran’s leaders to open the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Comply \u201cyou crazy bastards or you\u2019ll be living in Hell \u2013 JUST WATCH!\u201d he posted on Truth Social.<\/p>\n
Since the start of the conflict on Feb. 28, Hegseth has publicly disavowed the law of war, which makes targeting civilian infrastructure a crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history,\u201d he told reporters March 2. \u201cNo stupid rules of engagement \u2026 no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
One month into Trump\u2019s second term, Hegseth gutted the Pentagon\u2019s Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response office, which oversaw policy to limit risk to noncombatants, and a related center focused on protection of civilians.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 28, a Tomahawk missile struck an elementary school school in Minab, killing over 160 children and teachers. U.S. officials denied any intention of striking a school. A preliminary U.S. inquiry indicated that outdated target data had been used.<\/p>\n
On March 7, Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, accused the U.S. of bombing a desalination plant on Qeshm Island that provided water for 30 villages. The U.S. denied that.<\/p>\n
Those strikes, Ansari said, are grounds for Hegseth\u2019s impeachment. Congress is on Easter recess this week.<\/p>\n
Hegseth has been polarizing since his nomination, which the Senate confirmed on a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n
Under the Constitution, Congress can impeach and remove the president and Cabinet members for \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors\u201d \u2013 a phrase that Congress itself gets to define.<\/p>\n
Over 100 experts in international law signed a letter last week condemning Hegseth for declaring that U.S. forces will provide \u201cno quarter, no mercy for our enemies,\u201d despite Defense Department policy and domestic and international laws requiring quarter \u2013 taking prisoners rather than killing helpless or defeated enemy combatants.<\/p>\n
They called his dismissal of ordinary rules of engagement \u201cprofoundly alarming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cArticle II, Section 3 of the Constitution requires the executive branch to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, not sabotaged or scorned,\u201d Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and former associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan administration who did not sign that letter, said by email. \u201cHegseth has flouted that obligation in committing war crimes in violation of the War Crimes Act.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While many legal scholars agree that Hegseth has violated international law, his impeachment is unlikely as long as Democrats remain a minority in the House. Conviction in the Senate is also unlikely, because that requires a two-thirds vote and Republicans control 53 of 100 seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One other House Democrat had previously filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who began trying to impeach Trump early in the president\u2019s first term.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In December, Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar accused Hegseth of murder and \u201cextrajudicial killings\u201d related to deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean last September.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thanedar\u2019s resolution also accuses Hegseth of mishandling classified information about an impending military operation in Yemen in March 2025, after an aide inadvertently added a journalist to a group chat on Signal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 1876, the House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap for taking over $40,000 in bribes. He resigned before the trial, which proceeded anyway. The Senate acquitted him on all five articles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, the GOP-controlled House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on a 214-213 vote. The articles alleged that he had endangered the public by \u201cwillfully and systemically\u201d refusing to enforce immigration laws and by failing to control the border.<\/p>\n
The Senate, controlled by Democrats at the time, killed the Mayorkas impeachment without a trial after finding the allegations fell well short of \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n
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