Senator Mark Kelly, representing Arizona, has taken legal action against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, challenging the Pentagon’s decision to censure him. This move by Kelly aims to prevent potential punitive measures for his public encouragement of military personnel to refuse unlawful commands from their superiors.
In the lawsuit, Kelly, a former Navy captain and astronaut, is seeking a judicial order to overturn Hegseth’s formal reprimand. This censure could lead to a demotion and decreased retirement benefits for Kelly. He argues that the military’s actions are unconstitutional and are designed to suppress legislative oversight.
“Pete Hegseth is targeting the achievements of my 25-year military career,” Kelly stated. “His unconstitutional actions against me send a daunting signal to every retired service member: if you speak out contrary to the preferences of the President or Secretary of Defense, you face being censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.”
In addition to Hegseth, Kelly’s 46-page lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., also names Navy Secretary John Phelan, the Navy, and the Department of Defense as defendants.
Hegseth issued the censure recently, describing it as an essential preliminary measure before considering harsher penalties.
This development follows an incident several weeks ago, where Kelly, along with five other Democratic lawmakers, released a video on social media urging military personnel to disobey “illegal orders.”
The 90-second video was first tweeted by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). The six lawmakers, including Kelly and Slotkin, spoke directly to service members, whom Slotkin acknowledges are “under enormous stress and pressure right now.”
The lawmakers, all military or national security agency veterans, did not specify what orders they might believe could be illegal. Many analysts have questioned the legal basis of Trump’s military campaign of attacks against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
Days after the video’s release, President Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition in a post on his social media site, noting that sedition is “punishable by DEATH.”
The Pentagon unveiled the probe of Kelly last November, citing a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other measures.
Kelly is facing investigation because he is the only one of the six lawmakers who formally retired from the military and is still under the Pentagon’s jurisdiction, Hegseth said.
Kelly, a former hero pilot, is married to ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), who survived a 2011 assassination attempt. The two-term senator was on the short list to be Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate and has been mentioned as a potential 2028 presidential contender.
