Democrats in the US House of Representatives are introducing a resolution of impeachment against six members of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Axios reported.
They include strikes against Iran without congressional approval and exposing American service members to undue risk, as well as violating the laws of armed conflict. According to Democrats, Hegseth has “authorized, tolerated or failed to prevent“ operations in Iran that “led to significant civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Iran“. Specifically, they cite the strike on the girls' school in Minab, as well as strikes on ships in the Caribbean.
A separate article concerns the careless handling of classified information. This is related to Signalgate, the scandal in which Atlantic editor Jeff Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal chat where Hegsett and other senior US officials were discussing strikes in Yemen. The Pentagon chief “demonstrated gross negligence in handling confidential and classified information“ and “endangered the safety of American personnel through his reckless and inappropriate conduct“, the authors conclude.
Hegseth is also accused of abuse of power and undermining public trust in the Pentagon.
Axios notes that the resolution has virtually no chance of passing Congress, but it shows that Democrats have united around Hegseth, making him their new main target in the Donald Trump administration. Previously, they pushed for the impeachment of former Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, both of whom were subsequently fired by Trump. Hegseth is the leading candidate to become the new "Boogeman" /a folkloric character used primarily to scare naughty children/“, the publication wrote.
“This is just another attempt by Democrats to grab headlines while the Department of Defense has decisively and largely achieved the president's goals in Iran“, Pentagon spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson told Axios. Hegsett “will continue to defend the homeland and promote peace through force,“ she added.
The impeachment resolution is seven pages long. It is being introduced by Representative Yasmine Ansari (D-Ariz.), the first Iranian-American woman elected to Congress. Co-sponsors are Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Nikema Williams (D-Georgia), Deanna Titus (D-Nevada), David Min (D-California), Sri Thanedar (D-Michigan), Brittany Petersen (D-Colorado) and Sarah McBride (D-Delaware).
“This is just another farce designed to distract the American people from the significant successes we have achieved,“ Wilson stressed.