1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

I urge you to support the Articles of Impeachment filed by Representative Yassamin Ansari against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. His conduct meets the threshold of high crimes and misdemeanors. Secretary Hegseth violated his oath to defend the Constitution through six distinct categories of grave misconduct. What makes his conduct especially dangerous is that these violations occurred while he systematically dismantled the military's senior leadership structure, leaving the Army rudderless during active conflict with Iran. Article I charges Hegseth with unauthorized military action against Iran and endangering U.S. servicemembers. Iranian missiles struck a U.S. base in Jordan on July 17, killing three Americans and wounding over 100 others. Shahed drones struck a base in Kuwait, killing six more. Yet at the precise moment when military leadership was most critical, Secretary Hegseth was conducting a purge of senior generals. Gen. David M. Hodne, selected to lead the Transformation and Training Command overseeing Patriot antimissile crews, was fired eight months into his assignment. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George was terminated without explanation. At least three potential successors and a half-dozen other battle-hardened officers were forced out. The result is stark: the four-star general count collapsed from 10 in January 2025 to 5 currently. The Army operates with Vice Chief Gen. Christopher LaNeve serving dual roles as both vice chief and acting chief of staff, an arrangement unsustainable during wartime. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue's European command was downgraded from four-star to three-star authority mid-conflict. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, who collaborated with Gen. George on critical drone operations, is departing the administration. This is Article V in action: the systematic removal of experienced commanders to replace them with loyalists. Gen. LaNeve, Hegseth's handpicked former military aide, lacks sufficient Republican Senate support, yet Hegseth has maneuvered him into de facto command of the entire Army. When Secretary Hegseth authorized strikes against Iran and engaged in the conduct alleged in Articles I through IV, he did so while removing generals who would provide essential military judgment and operational expertise. A Secretary of War cannot unilaterally remake the military hierarchy to eliminate dissenting voices while simultaneously engaging in reckless military adventurism. Congress must act to uphold constitutional checks and balances