Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) on Thursday announced he will file articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is at the center of two scandals at the Defense Department.
“This secretary has to go,” Thanedar told Fox News host Josh Breslow. “He’s incompetent. He’s, you know, violated — he has committed war crimes. He must go.”
He added, “And if both parties, if Republicans are willing to look at this for the merit of this case and not just their loyalty to President Trump, this can be done.”
Thanedar pointed to Hegseth’s use of the encrypted messaging app Signal with other administration officials to discuss a pending strike on Houthi targets in Yemen as one reason to oust the Defense chief. A report from the Pentagon’s inspector general, released publicly on Thursday, found that Hegseth put the lives of U.S. troops at risk and violated department policy through the use of the app.
The Atlantic’s editor Jeffrey Goldberg was included in the Signal chat, along with Hegseth, Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Office of Inspector General argued in its report that if detailed strike plans were intercepted, the lives of U.S. troops would have been endangered.
The Michigan Democrat also cited reporting that Hegseth’s ordered military leaders to “kill everybody” in a Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean. The commanding officer, Adm. Frank Bradley, carried out the second strike in compliance with the secretary’s order even after two people were seen clinging to the boat’s wreckage.
Thanedar said both controversies show the need for accountability from both parties, using the discharge petition to force a vote on a bill to release all of the files in convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case as an example of bipartisan support. President Trump later signed the legislation into law.
“If Republicans are willing to look at this for the merit of this case and not just their loyalty to President Trump, this can be done,” the Michigan Democrat said. “Republicans need to look at this as laws that have been broken. War crimes have been committed. And Hegseth — the secretary is refusing to show up.”
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson slammed Thanedar and called the articles of impeachment “another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had” at DOD.
“While Shri tries to win points with his base to fend off his political opponents, Secretary Hegseth will continue to protect the homeland,” Wilson said.
After the White House confirmed the Sept. 2 directive, Hegseth said he learned about the second strike hours later after having left for another meeting. A U.S. official previously told The Hill that the incident saw four strikes carried out, two to kill everyone onboard and two to sink the vessel.
Hegseth and the White House have largely defended their moves in the Caribbean, as tensions escalate between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Thanedar joins other lawmakers and critics of the administration, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in accusing Hegseth of committing a war crime.
Thanedar had also introduced articles of impeachment against Trump in April. He called for Trump’s impeachment over several actions, including the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cutting funds without the approval of Congress.
Democrats did not back the motion and joined Republicans in tabling Thanedar’s articles.
While at a rally in Michigan to celebrate his first 100 days back in office, Trump called Thanedar a “lunatic.”
“What the hell did I do?” Trump asked the audience. “Here we go again.”
