The Department of Defense is performing a “thorough review” of “serious allegations of misconduct” against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a naval veteran and astronaut who joined members of Congress to urge service members to honor their oath to the Constitution.
Kelly and several other lawmakers with military backgrounds issued a video statement last week telling troops they “can and must refuse illegal orders,” emphasizing that threats to constitutional order can emerge “from right here at home.”
President Donald Trump labeled the Democratic officials “traitors” who “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW” as he raged against them in a series of Truth Social statements in the days that followed. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!,” he wrote.
Trump also reposted several messages from Truth Social users, including a message demanding the president “HANG THEM” like “GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
A statement from the Pentagon suggested the retired naval officer could be recalled to active duty “for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”
“This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality,” the Defense Department said in a statement Monday. “Further official comments will be limited, to preserve the integrity of the proceedings.”
The statement also reminded military retirees that they are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the body of criminal law that governs members of the armed forces, including under federal statutes that “prohibit actions intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale or good order and discipline of the armed forces.”
“Any violations will be addressed through appropriate legal channels,” according to the Pentagon.
Service members have a “legal obligation” to “obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful,” the statement added. “A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”
An extraordinary attempt to prosecute a sitting member of Congress in a military tribunal may be logistically and legally impossible while Kelly is serving in the Senate.
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. Kelly later ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona in 2020.
“When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution,” Kelly said in a statement in response to the Trump administration’s latest threats, which he learned about only through the Pentagon’s post on X.
“I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired — which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents,” he added.
“In combat, I had a missile blow up next to my jet and flew through anti-aircraft fire to drop bombs on enemy targets. At NASA, I launched on a rocket, commanded the space shuttle, and was part of the recovery mission that brought home the bodies of my astronaut classmates who died on Columbia. I did all of this in service to this country that I love and has given me so much,” the senator wrote.
The administration’s attempts to “intimidate” him and other members of Congress “won’t work,” he added.
“I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution,” Kelly said.
The video from senators Kelly and Elissa Slotkin along with Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan warns military personnel against “threats to our Constitution” coming “from right here at home,” 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.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labeled the members of Congress the “Seditious Six” for what he called a “despicable, reckless and false” video statement.
“Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion — which only puts our warriors in danger,” he wrote in a Monday post on X.
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, and other veterans among the group are no longer subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but Kelly is, “and he knows that,” Hegseth added.
“As was announced, the Department is reviewing his statements and actions, which were addressed directly to all troops while explicitly using his rank and service affiliation — lending the appearance of authority to his words,” he wrote. “Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately.”
Immediately following last week’s video, Trump said the lawmakers should be “ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.”
“Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”
The White House defended the president’s burst of statements, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt claiming that the message from members of Congress could “disrupt the chain of command.”
“The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed. It can lead to chaos,” Leavitt said Thursday.
The lawmakers abused their offices to “signal to people serving under this commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, that you can defy him,” she said.
“That is a very, very dangerous message, and it perhaps is punishable by law,” she added.
Trump later said he was not “threatening death” but said lawmakers were “in serious trouble.”
“In the old days, it was death,” he told Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade. “That was seditious behavior.”
Kelly and other members of Congress have accused the president of trying to prevent them from speaking out against his administration by wielding the power of the White House and threat of violence to crush dissent.
“I think it’s really important for people to understand that … the message he sent a couple days ago was he declared that loyalty to the Constitution is now punishable by death. Those are serious words coming from the president of the United States,” Kelly told CBS Face the Nation Sunday.
Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, Kelly’s Arizona counterpart and a Marine veterans, told Hegseth: “F*** you and your investigation.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democratic member on the House Judiciary Committee who taught constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for decades before entering politics, told The Independent in a text message that any attempt to prosecute Kelly under Article 88 would run afoul of the Constitution’s provisions granting legislators broad immunity from prosecution over acts tied to their duties in office.
Andrew Feinberg contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.
