Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, is likely a war criminal. Even former generals in the U.S. military have
said so. He has illegally
waged war against Iran without the approval of Congress, and overseen illegal strikes on 80 ships and boats. Those vessels were carrying 243 people who are now dead.
That's why it was heartening to see
a Republican Congressman, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, initiating efforts to impeach Hegseth. On Monday, November 9, he introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth. On Wednesday, November 11, that effort narrowly failed by only
seven votes.
Luckily, the Blue Wave means Democrats will decisively take control of the House of Representatives in January 2027. We must demand that Democrats re-introduce these articles of impeachment and ensure Hegseth's removal from office before he does even more damage! Sign the petition!Wednesday's vote came down to 211 representatives against and 204 voting for impeachment. At least 11 Democrats were absent from voting. That alone is inexcusable - but luckily in January, there will be enough Democratic power in Congress to do this properly next time.
Already in September, the House of Representatives voted in a bipartisan manner to end the Trump-Hegseth war in Iran, with that vote coming down to 220 for and 204 against the motion. So now, not only is Hegseth violating U.S. law that stipulates only Congress may enact war, but he's also violating September's vote to end his ongoing attacks.
Once the House successfully votes to impeach Hegseth, the matter will move to the Senate. There, it will require two-thirds of Senators to vote for removal, in order for Hegseth to finally be pushed out of his war-mongering role.
In January, Democrats must make sure to act quickly.
This man has already said he's uninterested in following international rules of law and order. He and Trump have ridiculously tried to rename the Department of Defense to the so-called "Department of War." He has directed extrajudicial killings of people on boats at sea, and wanted to publicly televise a
military execution of a man by firing squad.Hegseth cannot be trusted with one of the most powerful jobs in the U.S., that of overseeing the military. Sign the petition to demand that Democrats do their jobs by impeaching and removing Hegseth from office in January! 