Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on April 8, 2026. —Andrew Harnik—Getty ImagesDemocratic lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of abuse of power and war crimes, among other allegations. The six articles of impeachment, which have almost no chance of passing due to Republicans’ slim majority in the House, were first reported by Axios. The resolution is led by Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, the first Iranian-American Democrat elected to Congress. The eight Democratic co-sponsors of the bill include Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Nikema Williams of Georgia, Dina Titus of Nevada, David Min of California, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, and Sarah McBride of Delaware. Ansari last week accused Trump of “escalating a devastating, illegal war, threatening massive war crimes and targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran” and said she would be introducing impeachment articles against Hegseth. In response to the resolution, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told TIME that “Secretary Hegseth is doing an outstanding job leading the Pentagon – as evidenced by the unprecedented military success of Operation Epic Fury. This is a totally unserious act by backbencher Democrats who are desperate for headlines, and no media outlet should grant them the attention they obviously crave.”The Defense Department has also disparaged the resolution, with Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson describing the effort in a statement to news outlets as “just another Democrat trying to make headlines as…
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