Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari Moves to Impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Over War Crimes

Representative Yassamin Ansari is done waiting for Pete Hegseth to remember that his job title includes the word "defense," not "war crimes."

The Arizona Democrat announced today that she will introduce Articles of Impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth next week, accusing him of violating his oath of office, enabling unconstitutional military action, and overseeing attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran -- including the bombing of a girls' school in Minab.

"Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys," Ansari said in a statement. "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."

Trump's Easter Sunday War Threats

Ansari's announcement comes on the heels of what she described as Trump's "deranged statements" -- including threats made on Easter Sunday -- that are "further entrenching our country and our world in another devastating, never-ending war." The congresswoman accused Trump of threatening war crimes that violate both U.S. law and the Geneva Convention, on top of what she characterized as "illegal actions and atrocities already committed at his direction."

Those actions, according to Ansari, include violence that has destroyed schools, hospitals, and critical civilian infrastructure in Iran. The bombing of the girls' school in Minab represents one of the most egregious examples of what Ansari calls willful targeting of civilians -- a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

Constitutional Crisis and the 25th Amendment

Ansari didn't mince words about the broader constitutional crisis at play. She called on Republicans to join Democrats in demanding Trump end what she termed a "suicidal war" and suggested that Trump's Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

"The 25th Amendment exists for a reason; his Cabinet should use it," Ansari said. "The fate of U.S. troops, the Iranian people, and the very foundation of our global system are at stake."

The 25th Amendment allows the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unable to discharge his duties -- a mechanism designed for exactly the kind of reckless military adventurism Ansari describes. But with loyalists like Hegseth installed throughout Trump's administration, the likelihood of Cabinet members invoking it remains vanishingly small.

Personal Stakes for Ansari

For Ansari, the stakes are both political and deeply personal. The daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled the Islamic Republic's regime, she framed her opposition to the escalating conflict as rooted in both her family history and her oath to the Constitution.

"As the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled this regime, and as an American Congresswoman who swore an oath to the United States Constitution, I know that this cannot go on," she said.

That personal connection gives Ansari a unique perspective on the human cost of military action in Iran -- and on the authoritarian impulses driving Trump's approach to foreign policy. Her family's experience fleeing authoritarianism in Iran makes her acutely aware of what happens when leaders consolidate power and ignore legal constraints.

War Powers and Congressional Authority

At the heart of Ansari's impeachment push is a fundamental constitutional question: who has the authority to take the country to war? The Constitution grants that power exclusively to Congress, not the president. Yet Trump has launched military strikes in Iran without congressional authorization, effectively bypassing the legislative branch's war powers.

Hegseth, as Secretary of Defense, has enabled and executed those strikes. By doing so, Ansari argues, he has violated his oath to uphold the Constitution and protect the separation of powers that prevents any single branch from unilaterally dragging the country into armed conflict.

"Those who continue to follow him blindly will have blood on their hands as well," Ansari warned, making clear that she views Hegseth's role as more than just following orders -- it's active complicity in unconstitutional and illegal military action.

What Happens Next

Ansari plans to introduce the Articles of Impeachment next week. For the effort to succeed, she would need a majority of the House to vote for impeachment, followed by a two-thirds majority in the Senate to convict and remove Hegseth from office.

Given Republican control of both chambers, the likelihood of Hegseth's removal is slim. But impeachment proceedings would force a public reckoning with the administration's military actions in Iran, put Republicans on the record about war crimes and constitutional violations, and create a legislative record of the administration's abuses.

At minimum, it would make clear that some members of Congress are willing to use every tool at their disposal to check a runaway executive branch -- even when the political odds are long.

For Ansari, the calculation is simple: when the alternative is complicity in war crimes and the shredding of constitutional limits on presidential power, impeachment is the only option left.