Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the military has initiated administrative actions against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) that could result in a reduction of his retirement rank and military pension over his participation in a video urging service members to refuse illegal orders.
Sen. Kelly, a former Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, was one of six Democratic senators who appeared in a video published in November reminding service members that they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders. Secretary Hegseth described the video as “seditious.”
“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Secretary Hegseth wrote on social media.
“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.”
Sen. Kelly maintains he did nothing wrong and accused the Pentagon of engaging in political intimidation.
“Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that,” Sen. Kelly wrote on social media.
“If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”
