By Lindsey Toomer, Colorado Newsline
Posted April 9, 2026
One of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress joined several national lawmakers calling for President Donald Trump to be impeached following his latest threats against Iran.
Trump on Tuesday threatened that “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. He posted the message roughly 12 hours before his self-imposed deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or otherwise face U.S. strikes on the country’s bridges and power plants.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, said in a post on X that Congress should begin the impeachment process if the U.S. Cabinet “is too cowardly” to invoke 25th Amendment proceedings to remove Trump from office. She said the president “is openly threatening war crimes against the entirety of Iranian civilization.”
The 25th Amendment authorizes the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members or Congress to deem the president unable to carry out the duties of the office. The amendment has never been invoked. DeGette and many other Democrats have voiced support for invoking the amendment, including U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat.
Pettersen said it is “unimaginable” and “utterly shocking and terrifying” that the U.S. president would threaten to destroy an entire civilization, and that targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime. A spokesperson for Pettersen said she would support impeachment.
“Our service members are being placed in an impossible position where they could be forced to choose between following unlawful orders or risking their careers and futures by refusing to comply,” Pettersen said in a statement. “The men and women who volunteer to serve this country risk everything to protect us and should never be asked to compromise their oath to our Constitution.”
U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora Democrat, has been repeatedly targeted by the Trump administration for participating in a video with other Democrats in Congress to remind members of the military and intelligence community to refuse illegal orders. He repeated that reminder following Trump’s latest comments, saying that service members “have a solemn duty to follow the law.”
“The President is endangering the American people, our servicemembers, our allies, and innocent civilians,” Crow said in a statement. “Americans of good conscience must come together and reject this madness.”
The U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran on Feb. 28, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and numerous other senior leaders of the Islamic state. In response, Iran has targeted global oil trade by effectively choking off the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime passage for about one-fifth of the world’s petroleum and liquid natural gas.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said Trump is threatening war crimes “to fix a crisis he created.” Trump launched a war in Iran without a “clear strategy” or “honest justifications,” Bennet said, and his latest comments are a “reckless, dangerous escalation.”
House Minority Leader Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment from Newsline. A statement from House Democratic leadership called on Republicans to “put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping this madness.”
A growing group of other congressional Democrats on Tuesday pointed to impeachment or the 25th Amendment as a response to Trump’s behavior toward Iran.
Lindsey Toomer is a Reporter for Colorado Newsline. This article is republished from Colorado Newsline under a Creative Commons license. Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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