Democratic Senator Mark Kelly is suing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon officials after Donald Trump’s administration threatened to haul the Navy veteran to court and cut his retirement rank and pay.
The threats followed November’s video statement from Kelly and other lawmakers with military backgrounds telling troops they “can and must refuse illegal orders,” emphasizing that threats to constitutional order can emerge “from right here at home.”
The Trump administration responded with “extreme rhetoric and punitive retribution,” including publicly branding Kelly’s statements seditious and treasonous, according to Kelly’s lawsuit, which was filed in Washington, D.C. Monday.
A statement from the Pentagon suggested the retired naval officer could be recalled to active duty “for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,” and Hegseth issued a “Secretarial Letter of Censure” declaring his statements “undermined the chain of command,” “counseled disobedience,” and constitute “conduct unbecoming an officer.”
Trump, meanwhile, labeled the Democratic officials “traitors” who “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW” for behavior he claims is “punishable by DEATH” as he raged against them in a series of Truth Social statements in the days that followed the video.
The president also reposted several messages from Truth Social users, including a message demanding the president “HANG THEM” like “GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
“It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech,” according to Kelly’s lawsuit.
If allowed to stand, Hegseth’s attempts to censure Kelly could imperil “protected speech, chill legislative oversight, and threaten reductions in rank and pay,” the lawsuit states.
“Each of these actions also signals to retired service members and members of Congress that criticism of the Executive’s use of the armed forces may be met with retaliation through military channels,” the lawsuit adds.
A federal judge must intervene to preserve Kelly’s First Amendment rights and due process before an “unconstitutional and legally baseless proceeding” can begin, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement supporting the complaint, Kelly said Hegseth is “coming after what I earned” after 25 years of military service “in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him — and this or any administration — accountable.”
“His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the president or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted,” Kelly wrote.
He is now suing Hegseth “because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms,” he wrote.
The video from Kelly, Senator Elissa Slotkin and Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan warns U.S. military personnel against “threats to our Constitution,” an apparent reference to the Trump administration’s deployment of federalized National Guard troops into Democratic-led cities to support the president’s mass deportation agenda.
Service members “can refuse illegal orders,” the message said.
Kelly, a decorated fighter pilot, retired from active duty at the rank of captain from both the Navy and NASA in 2011 to care for his wife Gabby Giffords, then a Democratic congresswoman was nearly fatally shot during a constituent meeting.
He later ran for and won a Senate seat in Arizona in 2020.
“Now, Pete Hegseth wants our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and pay years or even decades after they leave the military just because he or another Secretary of Defense doesn’t like what they’ve said,” Kelly said Monday.
“That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it,” he said.
The lawsuit also demands a judge block theTrump administration’s “unlawful and unconstitutional” actions to preserve the status of a coequal Congress and an apolitical military.”
A Defense Department told The Independent that the Pentagon is “aware” of Kelly’s lawsuit but would not comment on ongoing litigation as a matter of department policy.
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