A Congresswoman representing Arizona announced her intent to introduce Articles of Impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) invoked the U.S. Constitution’s 25th Amendment in a statement calling for Hegseth’s removal.
“Next week, I am introducing Articles of Impeachment against Pete Hegseth for repeatedly violating his oath of office and his duty to the Constitution,” Ansari said. “Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys.”
Hegseth was appointed by President Donald Trump and sworn in on Jan. 25, 2025.
Since then, a conflict emerged in the Middle East after Trump pre-emptively struck Iran on Feb. 28, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli Defense Forces.
“This cannot go on,” Ansari said. “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.”
Operation Epic Fury has killed Iran’s supreme leader, their supreme national security council secretary, military office chief, defense minister, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy and Intelligence chiefs, and their Armed Forces general staff commander.
The official casualty count for American service members killed in action is 15.
“Hegseth’s reckless endangerment of U.S. servicemembers and repeated war crimes, including bombing a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, and willfully targeting civilian infrastructure, are grounds for impeachment and removal from office,” Ansari said.
Trump had threatened Iran with strikes on their power plants and other infrastructure targets if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened by midnight on April 7.
On April 8, Hegseth announced the details of a cease-fire and that the War Department would retreat.
In response to the ceasefire, Ansari said she is momentarily relieved for innocent civilians who thought they would face nuclear catastrophe.
“I’m also relieved for the American servicemembers who would have been placed in even graver danger and ordered to carry out war crimes,” she said in an April 7 statement. “But this doesn’t change anything.”
The Department of War did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
Ansari is the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled the country during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
She also criticized Trump’s April 5 Truth Social post that threatened the regime with hell and called them crazy bastards.
“Donald Trump’s deranged statements – including one on Easter Sunday – are further entrenching our country and our world in another devastating, never-ending war,” Ansari added. “He’s threatening war crimes that violate U.S. law and the Geneva Convention, on top of illegal actions and atrocities already committed at his direction–including violence that has destroyed schools, hospitals, and critical civilian infrastructure.”
