U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar says he will file articles of impeachment against another Trump administration official.
Last week, the Detroit Democrat wrote articles of impeachment against U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for allegedly issuing orders to “kill everybody” aboard a Venezuelan drug smuggling boat in September and discussing pending attacks on Yemen in a group chat in March.
Detroit Democrat wrote articles of impeachment against U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for his roles in discussing pending attacks on Yemen in a group chat in March and for allegedly issuing orders to “kill everybody” aboard a Venezuelan drug smuggling boat in September.
“Pete Hegseth is uniquely unqualified to serve as Secretary of Defense,” Thanedar said in a statement. “Every day he serves in this role, he puts American servicemembers and their families in danger. He gave direct, unlawful orders to kill every single person on a civilian boat from Venezuela, violating the Defense Department’s Law of War Manual.”
He added, “Additionally, his mishandling of classified information, leaking war plans in a Signal chat which included sensitive operations details, including target systems and attack times, has put American lives at risk. He can no longer serve as our Secretary of Defense, which is why I am introducing these articles of impeachment.”
The congressman announced the articles of impeachment at a rally in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
Thanedar, a billionaire entrepreneur from the pharmaceutical industry and immigrant from India, represents parts of Detroit, downriver, and the Grosse Pointe communities.
In April, Thanedar filed seven articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, including allegations of corruption, freedom of speech violations, obstruction of justice, unlawfully gutting government agencies, and other actions he considered high crimes and misdemeanors.
“In this country, we have presidents, not kings,” Thanedar said at the time. “This is not just misconduct. This is impeachable misconduct. This isn’t leadership; it’s tyranny. If we let this stand, we are saying the president is above the law.”
The attempt was discouraged by Democratic Party leadership, and nothing came of it.
On Monday, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York dismissed the possibility of impeaching Hegseth.
“Republicans will never allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives, and we know that’s the case,” he said, adding that he believed Hegseth should resign instead.
The House voted to impeach Trump twice during his first term for pressuring Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid and for inciting the Jan. 6, 2020 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but Senate Republicans blocked the efforts.
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This article appears in Dec. 10-23, 2025.