Rep. Haley Stevens, who is running for an open Senate seat in Michigan, formally introduced articles of impeachment Wednesday against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a move with virtually no chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled House.
Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, first said in September that she intended to file the impeachment measure, contending Kennedy's actions and public remarks have jeopardized public health, increased healthcare costs, and led to cuts in medical research programs.
In a post on X early Wednesday, Stevens said Kennedy "has to go" and announced she had introduced articles of impeachment to remove him from office.
Kennedy, Stevens said, "has turned his back on science, on public health, and on the American people."
She added that "under his watch, families are less safe, healthcare costs are skyrocketing, and life-saving research, including right here in Michigan, is being gutted."
Stevens also called Kennedy "the biggest self-created threat to our health and safety" and said she would not "stand by while one man dismantles decades of medical progress," saying impeachment was needed "to hold him accountable and to protect the health, safety, and future of every Michigander."
In a brief interview Tuesday night, Stevens said she was responding to appeals from pro-science groups that have warned Kennedy's 10-month tenure at HHS has cost lives and that he should be removed.
"It's a public health and safety issue," Stevens told NBC News, describing what she said were halted clinical cancer research trials involving Michigan families.
She said she has pursued legislation to restore funding for those trials but has not succeeded, and said calls for Kennedy to step down have not prompted action.
"I'm a very serious lawmaker. I get a lot done here," Stevens said. "But I'm not going to sit quietly by while people's health and safety and lives are on the line."
Articles of impeachment are the written charges a House member introduces, similar to a bill, accusing a federal official of impeachable misconduct, but their filing alone does not remove anyone or guarantee House action.
Formal House impeachment proceedings begin only if House leaders and committees take up the matter, typically by opening an inquiry, conducting investigations and hearings, and deciding whether to advance the articles for a vote by the full House; approval of any article by a simple majority means the official is impeached.
Only then does the case move to a Senate trial, where a public official's removal from office requires a two-thirds vote.
The filing of impeachment articles can energize progressive voters, particularly in competitive primary contests.
An HHS spokesman dismissed Stevens' impeachment push earlier this fall.
In September, spokesman Andrew Nixon said Kennedy "remains focused on the work of improving Americans' health and lowering costs, not on partisan political stunts."
Stevens is not the only Michigan lawmaker to introduce impeachment articles against a member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet.
Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., introduced articles of impeachment this week against War Department Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of murder and conspiracy to murder following a news report that he issued an order to "kill them all" on a small vessel in the Caribbean suspected of carrying drugs.
The White House and Hegseth have repeatedly said no illegal orders were given.
Both Stevens and Thanedar are facing competitive Democratic primary races.
Thanedar is being challenged by a candidate backed by the progressive group Justice Democrats.
Stevens is among several Democrats seeking their party's nomination to succeed Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who is not seeking reelection.
Other Democrats running include state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health official and 2018 gubernatorial candidate.
Elsewhere, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, has said he plans to file articles of impeachment against Trump.
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