Democratic lawmakers launch impeachment effort against Hegseth

A group of Democratic lawmakers is hoping to impeach Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, accusing him of "high crimes and misdemeanors," including launching an "unauthorized war against Iran" and targeting civilians.

The articles of impeachment were filed in the House by a group led by Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Arizona, on April 15. They allege Hegseth committed six impeachable acts: initiating an "unauthorized" war in Iran, violating the laws of armed conflict that bar the military from targeting civilians, "reckless handling" of sensitive military information, obstructing congressional oversight, abusing his power and "bringing disrepute" to the U.S. military through his conduct.

"Pete Hegseth broke his oath to the Constitution, put U.S. troops at grave risk through the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, engaged in abuse of office and conduct beneath the dignity of his office, and carried out unlawful military actions despite his obligation to refuse," Ansari alleged in a statement.

She noted U.S. military "strikes on civilians" included a Feb. 28 strike on a school in southern Iran that killed at least 175 people, most of them children, the day the United States and Israel launched the war.

The articles of impeachment are now cosponsored by 13 other House Democrats, according to Ansari's statement. Even if all the Democrats in the House voted for impeachment, the measure lacks the votes to pass in the lower chamber.

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said Ansari is "just another Democrat trying to make headlines as the Department of War decisively and overwhelmingly achieved" President Donald Trump's objectives in Iran.

"This is just another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had here at the Department of War," she said in a statement to USA TODAY.

House Democrats failed to pass a war powers resolution on April 16 to rein in the war in Iran, which the Trump administration began without congressional approval. A day prior, the Senate rejected a similar measure on a mostly party-line vote of 47-52.

A war powers resolution seeking to constrain Trump's military intervention in Venezuela, which reached a crescendo in early January with the capture of its then-president, Nicolas Maduro, also failed in the House and Senate.

The Pentagon has said U.S. Central Command opened an investigation into the strike on the Iranian school, but it has not admitted responsibility for hitting it, despite media investigations that showed evidence that the U.S. military was culpable.

The articles of impeachment also reference ongoing U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean that the Trump administration has claimed without evidence are carrying drugs. At least 177 people have been killed in those strikes, which many legal experts have criticized as illegal.