1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to immediately initiate impeachment proceedings against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his dangerous and reckless actions regarding military artificial intelligence use. His conduct threatens not only democratic values but potentially the safety of humanity itself. Hegseth is demanding that AI company Anthropic allow the Pentagon unrestricted use of its Claude chatbot for any lawful use, including mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. When Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused, stating the company cannot in good conscience comply with demands that could undermine democratic values, Hegseth threatened to label Anthropic a supply chain risk and invoke the Defense Production Act to force compliance by 5:01 p.m. ET. Pentagon Under Secretary Emil Michael escalated further by calling Amodei a liar with a God complex on Twitter. This situation became even more alarming when reports emerged that the U.S. military used Claude in an operation to kidnap the Venezuelan dictator without Anthropic's consent. The company that created this technology has established clear red lines against its use for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons for good reason. Experts warn that autonomous weapons range from decades-old defense turrets to potentially humanity-ending autonomous nuclear weapons. When a Defense Secretary threatens and attempts to coerce a private company into abandoning safety guardrails on technology with existential implications, he has demonstrated unfitness for office. Hegseth's actions show contempt for democratic norms, disregard for expert warnings, and willingness to risk catastrophic consequences to assert military control over AI technology. Congress has been slow to pass AI regulation legislation, but you cannot afford to wait any longer. Hegseth's behavior demands immediate accountability through impeachment, conviction, and removal from office before his recklessness leads to irreversible harm. I urge you to act now to protect both our democratic institutions and our collective safety.