Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) will introduce articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth over the follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.
Thanedar will unveil the articles of impeachment during a press conference on Thursday morning at Union Station.
Hegseth, according to a Washington Post report, ordered personnel to “kill everybody” aboard the drug boat in the Sept. 2 strikes. However, the White House has said Navy Adm. Mitch Bradley delivered the order for a second strike on two survivors holding on to the boat’s wreckage following a devastating initial blow.
Democrats have called Hegseth’s alleged actions a “war crime” and have called for him to be punished.
Thanedar said on Monday that Hegseth should be impeached.
“Pete Hegseth is utterly incompetent, totally reckless, and a serious threat to US national security. He must be impeached!!” he wrote on X. A later comment in response to a Hegseth post about the boat strikes, which was seemingly intended by the secretary to be humorous, said, “Nothing funny about committing war crimes!”
President Donald Trump, even as others within the Republican Party express skepticism about Hegseth, has justified the secretary’s actions as within a war context.
“I think you’re going to find that this is war, that these people were killing our people by the millions, actually, if you look over a few years. I think last year we lost close to 300,000 people were killed. That’s not mentioning all the families — have you seen what happens with the families?” Trump said.
Hegseth said Tuesday that he did not “stick around” to see the second strike.
“I watched that first strike live,” Hegseth said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we’ve got a lot of things to do. So I didn’t stick around for the hour and two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive sight exploitation digitally occurs, so I moved on to my next meeting.”
“A couple of hours later, I learned that the commander had made the decision, which he had the complete authority to do, and by the way, Adm. Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat,” Hegseth continued.
Once the articles of impeachment hit the House floor, the process will work similarly to how Congress impeaches a president. The House requires a majority vote to pass the articles to the Senate, which will have to vote in favor by a two-thirds majority to convict. If convicted, the person impeached is removed from office.
It’s unclear what Thanedar is charging Hegseth with, but it’s likely to be related to the strikes.
HEGSETH DIDN’T ‘STICK AROUND’ TO SEE BRADLEY CARRY OUT SECOND BOAT STRIKE ON SURVIVORS
The Michigan lawmaker introduced articles of impeachment against Trump in April.
Democratic leadership called his effort “unserious” at the time, and he withdrew it the next month.