Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain, is suing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the Trump administration announced plans to punish Kelly over his call for servicemembers to disobey illegal orders.  

“I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms,” Kelly, D-Ariz., announced Monday.  

Kelly filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington D.C. one week after Hegseth announced plans aimed at reducing his retirement military rank and pension. The Trump administration also sent Kelly a censure letter outlining “Kelly’s reckless misconduct,” Hegseth announced last week.  

In November, Kelly participated in a video with other Democratic lawmakers urging members of the military and the intelligence community to disobey unlawful orders. 

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the lawmakers stated, with each participant saying different parts of the sentence.  

“Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly said personally.  

In turn, Hegseth announced the “administrative action” against Kelly last Monday, calling the video “reckless and seditious” and stating the War Department had launched proceedings to determine a reduction in rank and retirement pay for Kelly.

He added that the letter of censure would be placed in Kelly’s permanent military file.

“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five 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,” Kelly said in the lawsuit announcement.  

Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five 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…

— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) January 12, 2026

“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 said.  

“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 continued.

“That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it.” 

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