Auctoritas

<p>Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) is pressing the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment hearings into Homeland Security Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/trump-kristi-noem-tom-homan-feud-immigration" target="_blank">Kristi Noem</a>, Axios has learned.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>House Democrats are increasingly <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/impeachment-haley-stevens-rfk-democrats-trump" target="_blank">turning to impeachment as their go-to cudgel</a> against not only President Trump himself, but many of his Cabinet officials.</p><hr /><ul><li>Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/10/rfk-jr-haley-stevens-impeach-democrat-congress" target="_blank">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</a> this week on a litany of charges mostly related to his efforts to roll back public health measures.</li><li>Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) filed articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/03/pete-hegseth-impeachment-democrat-shri-thanedar" target="_blank">Pete Hegseth</a> last week over <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/02/pentagon-signalgate-defense-department-congress-review" target="_blank">Signalgate</a> and a reported <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/04/trump-hegseth-defense-venezuela-drug-boat" target="_blank">double-tap strike </a>on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26371287-delia-ramirez-noem-impeachment-letter/" target="_blank">In a letter</a> to Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Ramirez demanded a "complete investigation into Secretary Noem's unlawful and potentially impeachable actions."</p><ul><li>The letter accuses Noem of "unethical behavior," pointing to reports that a <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group" target="_blank">firm tied to the DHS secretary</a> allegedly received DHS contract money and that the Coast Guard <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/us/politics/kristi-noem-dhs-gulfstream.html" target="_blank">spent $172 million</a> to buy her two private jets.</li><li>It also alleges she made "false and misleading" statements to Congress about <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will" target="_blank">DHS and ICE operations</a> and accuses her of undermining the separation of powers by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/noem-decision-el-salvador-deportations-trump-judge-order/" target="_blank">ignoring court orders</a>. </li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"Secretary Noem has established a clear pattern of lawless behavior, mirrored in the behavior of rank and file members of her leadership team," Ramirez wrote.</p><ul><li>"When taken together, her actions violate her oath of office."</li></ul><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>Republicans are highly unlikely to accede to her request, with Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye telling Axios: "This might be the most ridiculous and toothless letter ever written." </p><ul><li>A spokesperson for Raskin declined to immediately comment. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</li></ul>

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) on Thursday announced he will file articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is at the center of two scandals at the Defense Department. "This secretary has to go," Thanedar told Fox News host Josh Breslow. "He's incompetent. He's, you know, violated — he has committed war crimes....

<p>Defense Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/02/pentagon-signalgate-defense-department-congress-review" target="_blank">Pete Hegseth</a> put U.S. operations and troops at risk during a strike in Yemen by sending sensitive information to a Signal groupchat on an unapproved device, a Pentagon watchdog concluded in a long-awaited <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2025/Dec/04/2003834916/-1/-1/1/DODIG_2026_021.PDF" target="_blank">report</a>.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The March <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/" target="_blank">bombshell</a> from the<strong> </strong>The Atlantic that its editor-in-chief was inadvertently included in a Trump administration Signal chat on airstrikes in Yemen has <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/03/pete-hegseth-impeachment-democrat-shri-thanedar" target="_blank">haunted Hegseth</a> and sparked questions about his handling of sensitive information for months.</p><hr /><ul><li>A House Democrat announced Wednesday that he plans to introduce a longshot effort to impeach Hegseth, in part citing the Signal fiasco.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>Hegseth "created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots" by sharing sequencing details about an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/03/26/hegseth-leaked-texts-atlantic-signal-yemen" target="_self">upcoming attack on the Houthis in Yemen</a> over an "unapproved, unsecure network," the Inspector General's report reads.</p><ul><li>Per the report, Hegseth told the IG's office in a statement that "there were no details that would endanger our troops or the mission." </li><li>But the watchdog concluded that "if this information had fallen into the hands of U.S. adversaries, Houthi forces might have been able to counter U.S. forces or reposition personnel and assets to avoid planned U.S. strikes."</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>Chief Pentagon spokesperson and senior adviser Sean Parnell described the report, which found that Hegseth violated DoD policy, as a "TOTAL exoneration" that "proves" that "no classified information was shared."</p><ul><li>Hegseth said in his written statement to the IG that he had determined that the information he shared on Signal did not need to be classified, per the report.</li></ul><p><strong>What's inside: </strong>The report said that Hegseth declined to be interviewed and didn't provide direct access to his personal cell phone.</p><ul><li>His office did provide a portion of the Signal chat matching what was shared in The Atlantic, the report stated, but it excluded a "number of messages that had auto-deleted by the time the information was captured from the Secretary's phone because of settings in the chat."</li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/03/27/trump-signal-group-chat-yemen-strike-poll" target="_blank">Even Republicans say Trump's Signalgate scandal is serious: poll</a></p>

<p>Rep. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/01/pete-hegseth-impeachment-democrat-shri-thanedar" target="_blank">Shri Thanedar</a> (D-Mich.) announced Wednesday he plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The long-shot effort centers on two scandals currently rocking the Pentagon — a new report about <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/02/pentagon-signalgate-defense-department-congress-review" target="_blank">Signalgate</a> and allegations of a follow-up strike against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.</p><hr /><ul><li>Thanedar may struggle to garner support for his proposal even from his own party, however: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has already <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/01/jeffries-hegseth-impeach-venezuela-drug-boats" target="_blank">dismissed the viability</a> of trying to impeach Hegseth.</li><li>The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</li></ul><p><strong>Driving the news: </strong>Thanedar will unveil his articles of impeachment Thursday morning during a rally at Union Station in Washington, D.C., his office said in a press advisory.</p><ul><li>The articles will accuse Hegseth of "Murder and Conspiracy to Murder and Reckless and Unlawful Mishandling of Classified Information," the advisory said.</li><li>He will be joined at the rally by FLARE, a group pushing for Trump to be impeached.</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>Jeffries, asked at a Monday press conference about the possibility of impeaching Hegseth, shooed away the idea.</p><ul><li>"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.</li><li>"Donald Trump will order them not to do it," he added.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>Impeachment has been a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/24/trump-impeachment-trump-iran-al-green-democrats" target="_blank">source of considerable internal division</a> for Democrats this year.</p><ul><li>The party's grassroots base has pushed hard for it, but lawmakers view the maneuver as procedurally hopeless and politically fraught.</li></ul>