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House Democrats file articles to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

newsNov 7, 2026321,146

House Democrats filed articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that include an unauthorized war against Iran and reckless endangerment of U.S. servicemembers in violation of the War Powers Resolution. The articles allege violations of the law of armed conflict and targeting of civilians, citing an illegal strike to kill survivors of an initial attack on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea and operations causing large civilian casualties in Iran that they say run afoul of the Geneva Conventions. The filing also accuses Hegseth of negligence and reckless handling of sensitive military information, including unlawfully sharing classified material over unsecured systems like Signal, and of obstructing Congressional oversight by withholding facts about civilian casualties and operations in Iran and Venezuela. Democrats further charge abuse of power and politicization of the armed forces, including authorizing targeted investigations of elected officials such as Captain Mark Kelly, and conduct bringing disrepute on the U.S. military, including forcible separations of transgender servicemembers. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats have "run out of town some of his Cabinet secretaries" and that Hegseth is next, signaling an aggressive push to remove him from office. CNN analysis of a self-promotional "fight, fight, fight" video from Hegseth says the clip may have strengthened critics' case for impeachment.

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