U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., issued a blunt public condemnation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday, writing on X that he “is an embarrassment,” that the ongoing war has “been catastrophic,” and that he “needs to be immediately impeached.” The post is the latest escalation in a monthslong campaign by Ansari, the only Iranian American Democrat in Congress, to remove Hegseth from office over his conduct of the U.S. military campaign against Iran.
The Post
Ansari’s statement, posted to her official X account at 4:51 p.m. on September 5, 2026, read in full:
“Pete Hegseth is an embarrassment. The war has been catastrophic. He needs to be immediately impeached.”
A Campaign Months in the Making
Saturday’s post did not emerge in isolation. Ansari first announced her intent to pursue Hegseth’s impeachment on April 6, 2026, in a statement released through her congressional office. “Donald Trump’s deranged statements – including one on Easter Sunday – are further entrenching our country and our world in another devastating, never-ending war. He’s threatening war crimes that violate U.S. law and the Geneva Convention, on top of illegal actions and atrocities already committed at his direction–including violence that has destroyed schools, hospitals, and critical civilian infrastructure,” Ansari said at the time. She added, “So much is at stake, and those who continue to follow him blindly will have blood on their hands as well.”
In that same release, Ansari framed the constitutional stakes of the conflict directly, stating, “Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys.” She also invoked her personal background as the basis for her opposition, saying, “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.”
Six Formal Articles of Impeachment
On April 15, 2026, Ansari made good on that pledge, filing formal Articles of Impeachment against Hegseth in the House. “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—including strikes on civilians and a girls’ school in Minab, Iran. Hegseth’s conduct meets the threshold of high crimes and misdemeanors and warrants immediate removal by Congress,” Ansari said in the filing.
The resolution, later entered into the congressional record as H.Res.1177, laid out six separate articles against Hegseth: unauthorized war against Iran and reckless endangerment of U.S. service members; violations of the law of armed conflict and targeting of civilians; negligence and reckless handling of sensitive military information; and conduct bringing disrepute upon the United States and its armed forces, among others.
Ansari’s resolution drew thirteen Democratic co-sponsors, including Reps. Sarah McBride of Delaware, Lauren Underwood of Illinois, Al Green of Texas, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Nikema Williams of Georgia, Dina Titus of Nevada, Dave Min of California, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, Mike Quigley of Illinois, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, and John Larson of Connecticut. The effort also secured public backing from advocacy organizations including MoveOn, Indivisible, Foreign Policy 4 America, Win Without War, Common Defense, and the Center for International Policy.
The Minab School Strike
Central to Ansari’s case against Hegseth has been a February 28, 2026, strike on an elementary school in Minab, Iran, that killed more than 165 people, many of them children. Responsibility for the missiles that struck the school has remained disputed; President Trump initially blamed Iran for the strike before saying he would accept the findings of a Pentagon investigation, the results of which have not been fully released. A preliminary finding has suggested U.S. involvement, though the matter remains unresolved.
Ansari has repeatedly cited the Minab strike as evidence of what she has described as war crimes committed under Hegseth’s watch, and has paired it with allegations that the administration threatened to expand strikes against Iranian civilian infrastructure more broadly if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened to shipping. “What we have seen out of the Trump administration over this weekend has been absolutely horrifying and gut-wrenching,” Ansari said in early April, adding, “The threats against Iranian civilian infrastructure in the entire country of Iran are unreal and apocalyptic.”
Congressional Testimony Draws Further Criticism
Ansari’s criticism of Hegseth intensified further in early May 2026, after the defense secretary appeared before the House Armed Services Committee. In a video statement posted from an airport, Ansari said Hegseth’s testimony demonstrated his unfitness for office. “He could not answer basic questions about how much this war has cost American taxpayers,” Ansari said. “He could not answer or take accountability for the war crimes that he has committed. And he could not answer questions about what sort of plan there is moving forward, what the strategy is, and what the endgame is.” Hegseth’s office did not respond to a request for comment at the time.
International Legal Scrutiny
Ansari’s impeachment push has also drawn on outside legal analysis of the war. More than 100 international law professors have asserted that the U.S. military campaign against Iran violates the United Nations Charter and may constitute war crimes, a conclusion Ansari has cited directly in calling for Hegseth’s removal. “That’s why I’m calling for Pete Hegseth’s impeachment and removal from office immediately,” Ansari said, referencing the legal scholars’ findings.
A Pattern of Impeachment Efforts
Hegseth is not the first Trump Cabinet official Ansari has targeted for removal. She is reported to have pursued impeachment efforts against two other officials — former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi — before President Trump removed both from their posts ahead of formal proceedings and replaced them with other appointees. Hegseth is described as the third Trump Cabinet official Ansari has sought to impeach.
Ansari is not alone among House Democrats in pursuing impeachment action against Hegseth. In December 2025, Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar separately accused Hegseth of murder and “extrajudicial killings” tied to lethal boat strikes in the Caribbean, and cited Hegseth’s handling of classified information about a planned military operation in Yemen after a journalist was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat used to discuss war plans.
Historical Precedent
Impeachment of a sitting defense secretary would be a rare event in American history. The House impeached a secretary of war only once before, removing William Belknap in 1876 over bribery allegations; Belknap resigned just before the vote in an unsuccessful bid to avoid impeachment, and the Senate later acquitted him on all five articles. More recently, the House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in 2024 on a narrow 214-213 vote, accusing him of willfully failing to enforce immigration law.
Where the Effort Stands
Ansari’s impeachment resolution against Hegseth faces long odds in the current House, where Republicans hold a narrow majority and have shown no indication of advancing the measure toward a floor vote. Democratic sponsors of the effort have signaled they may renew the push more forcefully if the party regains control of the chamber following the midterm elections.
Neither Hegseth nor the Department of Defense has issued a public response to Ansari’s September 5 post. The department likewise did not respond to earlier requests for comment following Ansari’s April impeachment filing or her comments on Hegseth’s May testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. As of Saturday, Hegseth remained in his post as defense secretary, and the war Ansari has repeatedly characterized as “catastrophic” continued.