There was a curious moment during Monday’s White House press conference when Donald Trump reflected on Pete Hegseth’s Senate confirmation process, which led to the closest confirmation vote in American history for a defense secretary.

“He was treated very unfairly,” the president said, misremembering the events of early 2025, “and now those same people that treated him unfairly, that fought against him, they call me up saying what a great choice he was.”

Trump, of course, has established a record of sharing the details of conversations that occurred only in his imagination, and there’s every reason to believe this was an example of the phenomenon. Indeed, Hegseth has been such a disaster at the Pentagon that it’s simply implausible to think that there are senators who opposed the former Fox News host last year and have come to conclude this year that he was a “great choice.”

But right around the same time that the president was making these odd comments, efforts were underway on Capitol Hill related to the beleaguered defense secretary. NBC News reported:

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., announced today that she intends to introduce impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Ansari cited the Iran war and said Hegseth had ‘repeatedly’ violated his oath of office and his duty to the Constitution.

“Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys,” the Arizona Democrat said in a written 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.”

This will be the second such effort, following a related resolution introduced late last year by Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan.

Making the case for Hegseth’s impeachment is actually quite easy. Indeed, from his purge of U.S. military leaders to his role in the Signal group chat scandal, from his bizarre culture war crusade to his efforts to stand in the way of promotions for Black and female officers, from his handling of the crisis in Iran to his indefensible personnel decisions, it’s clear the Cabinet secretary shouldn’t be in this powerful, incredibly important position.

What’s more, there’s no reason to believe the American public would have a serious problem with efforts to impeach him. A national Pew Research Center poll, conducted a few weeks before the start of the war in Iran, found Hegseth with the lowest favorability rating of any member of the White House Cabinet.

That said, the Pentagon chief’s many critics shouldn’t get their hopes up about the impeachment resolution’s prospects. The House Republican majority is vanishingly small, but the GOP still controls the chamber, and it’s unrealistic to think the party will allow an impeachment against Hegseth to advance.

But efforts like these can nevertheless serve as — and, in some instances, become — a rallying cry. In January, for example, Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., launched an impeachment push against then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and it picked up 187 co-sponsors as well as endorsements from House Democratic leadership. The drive added to the pressure on the hapless DHS chief, who was ultimately forced out of office.

Similarly, in early March, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi faced an impeachment effort, and while it’s unlikely that it contributed significantly to Trump’s decision to fire her, the resolution contributed to the storm clouds that hovered over the Florida Republican ahead of her ouster.

I’m not saying the same thing will happen with the defense secretary, but if Ansari’s upcoming resolution starts to pick up a sizable number of co-sponsors, it’ll be an effort worth monitoring, especially relative to Democrats’ post-midterm election plans. Watch this space.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

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