Speaking or acting publicly and challenging policies of the U.S. government takes courage from an average citizen of the United States; it is doubly so for those who are employed by the U.S. government, and particularly those in the U.S. military.
Under the Biden administration we had seven examples of courageous acts of conscience by members of the U.S. military in refusing to be a part of the Israeli-U.S. genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
During the Trump administration, many who have privately dissented from the endless illegal policies have been fired, in particular those in the U.S. military, no matter what rank, and especially if he or she had any connection to DOD’s mandated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
Few have publicly challenged Trump policies while remaining in the government.
Yet, one U.S. Air Force Major has done just that.
U.S. Air Force Major Jason Watson Calls for the Impeachment of President Trump and Vice President Vance
On July 1, 2026, active-duty U.S. Air Force Major Jason Watson spoke in a public Capitol Hill press conference and called for the impeachment, conviction and removal of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance for failure to uphold their oaths to the U.S. Constitution.
Major Watson, an Air Force Academy graduate and a 17-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, stated in the press conference, “For the past 18 months, we the people have allowed the highest levels of the executive branch of the federal government to violate our Constitution and their oaths to it with impunity.”
He then spelled out in the press conference the many reasons why the President and Vice President should be impeached, including:
a) “When the President of the United States orders military action against foreign countries absent an emergency scenario where American interests are under imminent, dire threat—as was done with Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran—that is an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’s authority and a violation of the War Powers Clause. These violations resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and injuries to hundreds more.”
b) “When the President of the United States grants an unelected mega-donor sweeping authority to shut down large swaths of our federal government, along with unrestricted access to our government databases, that is an unconstitutional circumvention of Congress’s advice-and-consent authority under the Appointments Clause and Congress’s power of the purse under the Appropriations Clause.”
c) “These violations exposed every American’s sensitive personal data to leaks and exploitation, illegally terminated tens of thousands of federal civil servants, crippled support for Americans needing medical care and disaster preparedness, and—most tragically—resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of the world’s most impoverished people through the inhumane, abrupt cessation of U.S. aid.”
d) “When the President of the United States directs the Department of Homeland Security to deny hundreds of people due process before illegally detaining them and sending them to a foreign prison notorious for human rights abuses, that is a violation of our Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights. Most people sent [by the U.S.] to CECOT never committed any violent crimes in their lives, but are being defamed as violent criminals as a pretext for the torture they suffered in El Salvador, paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
e) “When the President of the United States sponsors violence against the American people engaged in their constitutional right to peacefully assemble and protest, that is a violation of our First Amendment rights.”
f) “There are innumerable more impeachable offenses that I could cover: denying congressional oversight of immigrant detention centers that look increasingly like CECOT; suing media organizations, colleges, and law firms for billions of dollars while abusing executive branch agencies to extort settlements; allowing a mega-donor to advertise products on the White House lawn; trading pardons for donations; levying illegal tariffs; weaponizing the Department of Justice against political adversaries while ignoring crimes committed by supporters and enablers; and attempting to reverse birthright citizenship through executive order.”
g) “For all of these high crimes and misdemeanors, the President and Vice President must be impeached, convicted, and removed.”
The full text of Major Watson’s statement is here.
No Charges Yet from the U.S. Air Force
Three weeks after the press conference, Major Watson has not been charged with any criminal action. However, he is reportedly being investigated by the U.S. Air Force for potentially violating five articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including Article 81 “conspiracy with another person or persons to commit a crime”; Article 88 “using contemptuous words against officials of any branch of the U.S. government or any state government”; Article 92 “Failure to Obey an Order or Regulation”; Article 133 “Conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman”; and Article 134 “a repository of more than 54 unique criminal offenses that are not specifically covered in any other article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”
Major Watson was confined to Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., until Friday, July 18, when the Air Force stopped his confinement to the base. His onward assignment to Ramstein Air Base in Germany after ending his assignment as a logistics readiness officer at a U.S. military base in Bydgoszcz, Poland, has been canceled.
The Air Force has issued a “gag order” that prevents him from speaking to the media.
However, according to his support network, he is in regular contact with his Air Force Judge Advocate General military attorneys as well as a civilian attorney in the Washington, D.C., area. Major Watson reportedly is in good spirits and fully understands the process the military is undertaking.
Not the First Time Trying to Bring Attention to Trump’s Unlawful Actions
In July 2025, while on leave from his assignment in Poland, Major Watson held a 22-day anonymous hunger strike at the U.S. Capitol. YouTube videos he posted of the hunger strike showed him in a white mask and white jumpsuit as he sat silently in a lawn chair next to a sign that read “Impeach, Convict. Remove.”
He has said that the 2025 hunger strike received scant publicity for impeachment, and he believed he had to do something more to get the American public and the media’s attention to the destruction of democracy that President Trump was causing.
Watson later commented on that protest, saying he had been overly concerned about being outed as active-duty military. “It failed,” he told Jessica Denson, founder of the Removal Coalition and one of the organizers of the press conference speaking on an episode of her “Lights On” podcast released on July 3, 2026. “There was nobody paying attention because it’s just easy to ignore a lone actor, especially dressed the way that I was.” After his hunger strike, Major Watson created the organization “Defenders of Our Republic.”
So, on July 1, 2026, he upped the ante and had a press conference on Capitol Hill and stood on the steps of the Capitol while in military uniform with the same signs: “Impeach. Convict. Remove.” And risked being arrested for standing on the Capitol steps.
Representative Al Green Submitted Articles of Impeachment of President Trump to the U.S. House of Representatives in December 2025
Major Watson was joined at the press conference by U.S. Representative Al Green (D-TX), the only member of the U.S. Congress to call for President Trump’s impeachment, Removal Coalition founder Jessica Denson, Defenders of Our Republic, About Face Veterans, constitutional scholar Bruce Fein and John Bonafiz of Free Speech for People.
In his statement at the press conference, Major Watson said that the Trump administration was violating the U.S. Constitution on multiple fronts, stating that ordering military action against Venezuela, Cuba and Iran without a genuine emergency threatening American interests was an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’s authority under the War Powers Clause.
Arrested for Speaking on the Capitol Hill Steps
In a planned arrest scenario, Watson was escorted to the bottom of the U.S. Capitol steps by Rep. Green, who then left the area, causing the Capitol Hill police officers to arrest Watson under D.C. Code § 22-1307 (Crowding, obstructing, or incommoding), i.e., standing and speaking (or even singing) on Capitol Hill without a U.S. congressperson. In such cases, you will be arrested, as many of us have found out.
In a video shared to X, Green said: “I just left the Capitol grounds, and I was there to witness a major in the U.S. military…He stood for the impeachment of a president on the Capitol grounds and thereafter he walked up the steps where he was arrested…This is the kind of courage necessary to inspire others.”
Representative Green’s House Resolution to Impeach President Trump
On December 10, 2025, Rep. Green filed House Resolution 939 to impeach President Trump, stating that “President Trump is an abuser of presidential power who, if left in office, will continue to promote violence, engender invidious hate, undermine our democracy, and dissolve our Republic, and that he is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article I pertains to President Trump calling for the execution of six Democratic lawmakers, all of whom are currently serving in the U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives, and who previously served in the U.S. Military or in U.S. Intelligence communities.
Article II describes how President Trump has fostered a political climate in which lawmakers and judges face threats of political violence and physical assault, has made threats and vituperative comments against federal judges, putting their safety and well-being at risk, and is undermining the independence of our judiciary.”
In a letter to his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Green said: “President Trump is an abuser of presidential power” who is engendering invidious hate, putting American lives at risk, undermining our democracy, and dissolving our Republic. At this critical moment in history, we must do more than confront the subordinate question of what he will do—we must also confront the superior question of what we will do.”
“We know that if any other president had called for the execution of Members of Congress and used vituperative language to intimidate federal judges, the opposition party would not wait until they had a majority to vote for his impeachment—they would do more than condemn his behavior. Each and every one would have voted to impeach him, and some members of the other party would join them. We just cannot wait until we all agree to do the right thing.”
The House voted to kill Green’s impeachment resolution 237-140.
A copy of the articles of impeachment can be accessed by clicking here.
U.S. House Member Chrissy Houlahan Praised Watson for His Bravery
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), another Air Force veteran, praised Watson for his bravery in standing up to the Trump administration, and spoke to Newsweek of her frustration with her Republican colleagues for failing to use their power to do the same.
“It says a great deal about the conviction of Major Watson that he is willing to make this statement while in uniform,” she said.
“He is undoubtedly aware of the consequences of his actions and is willing to sacrifice likely his career and possibly his freedom for his beliefs about this now twice-impeached President. I know he is not alone in his efforts to shine a light on this President and his administration’s unlawful behavior. I am enormously frustrated that my Republican House colleagues and the Speaker and Senate remain unwilling to recognize their authority to call for their resignations or removal. Indeed, they remain unwilling even to come to work at all.”
“I am hopeful that in November the people of the United States will deliver the votes necessary to flip the House and the Senate to allow us the votes to again impeach this reckless and lawless President and his supporting cast, including Secretary [Pete] Hegseth.”
Rep. Houlahan Was One of Six Members, Four of Whom Are Veterans, of the U.S. Congress Who Urged Military and Intelligence Personnel to Refuse Illegal Orders; Trump Calls Them “Traitors”
In a video in 2025, Senator Mark Kelly (Navy) and Representatives Jason Crow (Army), Maggie Goodlander (Navy Reserve Intelligence Officer), Chris Deluzio (Navy), Senator Elissa Slotkin (former CIA) and Representative Chrissy Houlahan (Air Force) said the “threats to our Constitution” are coming “from right here at home.” They repeatedly urged military and intelligence personnel to “refuse illegal orders.”
President Trump, who never served in the U.S. military and who apparently knows nothing about U.S. military law pertaining to the duty to disobey illegal orders, called the six congresspersons “traitors” who should face execution. He wrote in Truth Social posts: “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand—We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET. President DJT” “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” is punishable by DEATH!
Seven Other U.S. Military Who Have Taken Courageous Stands Challenging U.S. Government Policies
While Major Watson is the first military active-duty person to publicly call for the impeachment of President Trump and Vice President Vance, many military personnel have spoken publicly over the years about their concerns over government policies on specific issues. The latest examples were during the Biden administration over U.S. complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
I believe it is important to continue to acknowledge the courage of active-duty military in speaking publicly so I have included in this article about Major Watson brief descriptions of the other active-duty military who in the past couple of years have taken stands of conscience. There are many examples over the years of military challenging the wars—World War I, World War II, the U.S. War on Vietnam, Gulf War 1, the War on Afghanistan, and the War on Iraq.
Do Actions of One Inspire Actions by Others?
Major Watson has said that he hopes his actions will inspire others to take action, which is what happened in the following examples.
U.S. Air Force Airman Aaron Bushnell
First, on February 25, 2024, Airman Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old, four-year veteran, who was a cyber-defense operations specialist with the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron, traveled from his assignment in Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and, in his Air Force uniform, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., to bring public attention to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. In the video that he took himself, he said: “I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.” As the flames engulfed him, Aaron said, “Free Palestine.” Aaron died later the same day.
U.S. Air Force First Sergeant Mohammed Abu Hashem
U.S. Air Force First Sergeant Mohammed Abu Hashem, a Palestinian American who was in the United States Air Force for 22 years, resigned on October 21, 2023, after an Israeli attack killed his aunt and more than 20 neighbors. As of July 1, 2024, five more of his relatives have been killed in the war on Gaza. He was the first person to resign over the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. His resignation was not made public until June 2024.
On July 9, 2024, Abu Hashem said that the U.S. government provided intelligence to the Israeli government on October 5-6 that was “more than sufficient for them to be able to stop Hamas.”
“[T]hey were informing their leadership that some type of movement was happening, and it was inconsistent with normal, everyday activity,” according to Hashem. “What and how Israel used that intelligence to up their force protection levels or to move to an alert status, that is the unknown. And unfortunately, they’ve delayed that investigation into the matter so they can continue their assault on innocent women and children.”
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Larry Hebert
On Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024, active-duty Senior Airman Larry Hebert, on leave from his assignment in Spain and as a father of two young children, went on a public hunger strike at the White House fence and in front of the U.S. Capitol to bring attention to Israeli-U.S. genocide in Gaza and Palestinians who were starving. He said he was inspired to take action by the self-immolation of active-duty Airman Bushnell. Hebert applied for Conscientious Objector status but was administratively discharged from the Air Force before a determination was made.[1]
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Juan Betancourt
In June 2024, U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Juan Betancourt publicly sought “separation” from the U.S. military as a conscientious objector. In an Instagram posting from Veterans For Peace, Betancourt declared, “My vehement stance against war and strong moral objection to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, perpetrated by the Israeli government under the aegis of the United States, have brought me to this critical juncture where I must speak out against these atrocities despite the potential reprisal it may bring.”
“Our voice is a powerful instrument, and it is our responsibility to humanity and the principles we hold dear to speak up against these heinous acts and make it known to our elected officials that we will not stand by silently while genocide unfolds,” Betancourt stated. “We refuse to be complicit. Rest in Power Aaron Bushnell!”
U.S. Air Force Major Riley Livermore
In October 2024, U.S. Air Force Major Riley Livermore submitted his resignation to the Air Force. He had served in the U.S. Air Force for 16 years. He was a flight engineer and spent two years working in Israel with the Israeli Air Force as a flight test engineer on “missile guidance research.”
Shortly after the Israeli military launched its assault following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Livermore decided that he could no longer be a part of the Defense Department. “I don’t want to be working on something that can turn around and be used to slaughter innocent people.”
In particular, Livermore said that he was frightened by “Israel’s use of targeting systems like Gospel and Lavender—artificial intelligence systems that have mechanized Israel’s war on Gaza, with little oversight.”
U.S. Army Major Harrison Mann
In June 2024, Major Harrison Mann, a 14-year Army veteran, resigned from the U.S. Army in opposition to the U.S. complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza citing, in his resignation letter, his experience as a Jewish person. “[A]s the descendant of European Jews, I was raised in a particularly unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing—my grandfather refused to ever purchase products manufactured in Germany—where the paramount importance of ‘never again’ and the inadequacy of ‘just following orders’ were oft repeated.”
U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant Joy Metzler
On April 25, 2025, Air Force Academy graduate Second Lieutenant Joy Metzler ended her military career at the completion of the difficult procedures for being granted conscientious objector status
Metzler wrote, “A year ago, I was still writing my conscientious objector package to separate from the U.S. Air Force, because I was horrified by the atrocities being committed with U.S. tax dollars and military manhours. Today, I am reflecting on my completion of a 40-day fast, Veterans & Allies Fast for Gaza in front of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. I ended my fast by being arrested (along with 28 other veterans as well as our allies) for shutting down 2nd Avenue in front of the NYC Israeli Consulate to protest the U.S.-Israeli-manufactured famine that Palestinians in Gaza were suffering under.”
President Trump Was Impeached Twice by the U.S. House of Representatives During His First Term As President
To remind ourselves, President Donald Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives during his first term in office. In each case, he was acquitted on all counts by the Senate.
First Impeachment of President Trump for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of the Impeachment Investigation:
The first impeachment trial stemmed from a telephone call President Trump had with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, in which President Trump asked the Ukrainian president to announce two investigations: one involving his potential opponent in the upcoming 2020 presidential election and a second into unsubstantiated allegations that entities within Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
The first Article of Impeachment charged the president with abuse of power, alleging that he had used the powers of his office to solicit Ukraine’s interference in the 2020 election and had conditioned official acts, such as the release of military aid to Ukraine and a White House visit, on President Zelensky agreeing to announce the investigations. “President Trump,” the article alleged, “engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of personal political benefit.”
The second Article of Impeachment charged the president with obstruction of the House impeachment investigation by directing the “unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives.” “This abuse of office,” the article alleged, was “subversive of constitutional government” and “nullif[ied] a vital constitutional safeguard vested solely in the House of Representatives.”
Ultimately, the Senate acquitted President Trump on both counts. Article I failed by a vote of 48-52 while Article II failed by a vote of 47-53.
Second Impeachment of President Trump for “incitement to insurrection”:
The second Trump impeachment occurred a year later following the insurrection events on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, in which some supporters of President Trump attempted to disrupt the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election as having been won by Joseph Biden.
On January 13, 2021, one week before he left office, the House of Representatives approved a single article of impeachment charging President Trump with “incitement to insurrection.” Specifically, the article alleged that, in the months running up to January 6th, the president had consistently “issued false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people.” He then repeated those claims when addressing a crowd on January 6, and “willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the Capitol….”
Although the House ultimately impeached President Trump prior to the expiration of his term, the Senate did not commence a trial until after President Trump had left office. On the question of whether the Senate had jurisdiction over a former president for acts that occurred during his tenure in office, a majority of senators—by a vote of 56-44—determined that former officials may be tried by the Senate and, though not removable, remain subject to disqualification from holding future office if convicted.
On February 13, 2021, former President Trump was ultimately acquitted by the U.S. Senate of “incitement to insurrection” by a vote of 57-43.
See Jeremy Kuzmarov, “Active Duty Air Force Airman on White House Hunger Strike for Starving Children of Gaza,” CovertAction Magazine, April 8, 2024.
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About the Author
Ann Wright is a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official.
She was one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
Since that time Colonel Wright has been a dedicated peace activist.
Ann can be reached at annw1946@gmail.com.
In refence to your statement that Al Green was the only member of Congress to call for Trump’s Impeachment:
That statement isn’t entirely accurate. While Representative Al Green was certainly a pioneer in this effort—becoming the first to call for Donald Trump’s impeachment from the House floor in May 2017—he was far from the only one. Shortly after his initial push, other lawmakers joined the effort. For example, Representative Brad Sherman actually filed the first formal articles of impeachment in July 2017. As time went on, numerous other members of Congress publicly called for impeachment, ultimately leading to a majority of the House voting to impeach Trump twice. While Rep. Green deserves credit for leading the early charge, he definitely wasn’t the only member to take that stance.