Democrat Senator Mark Kelly filed a lawsuit against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth earlier this month censured Democrat Senator Mark Kelly and cut his military retirement pay over his ‘seditious’ video urging service members to defy President Trump’s orders.
Mark Kelly is one of the ‘Seditious Six’ Democrat lawmakers who urged members of the military to defy Trump’s orders.
In November, without offering any specifics, Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), along with Democrat Reps. Maggie Goodlander (NH), Jason Crow (CO), Chris Deluzio (PA), and Chrissy Houlahan (PA) repeatedly stated, “You can refuse illegal orders,” or “You must refuse illegal orders,” in a viral video.
The Department of War previously announced it is considering recalling Democrat Senator Mark Kelly for court-martial proceedings after he urged the military to defy President Trump’s orders.
Last week, Hegseth announced he is moving to demote Kelly and cut his military pension, but stopped short of a court-martial.
“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. 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,” Hegseth said.
“Therefore, in response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret). The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay,” Hegseth said.
“To ensure this action, the Secretary of War has also issued a formal Letter of Censure, which outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly’s reckless misconduct. This Censure is a necessary process step, and will be placed in Captain Kelly’s official and permanent military personnel file,” Hegseth added.
On Monday, Kelly filed a lawsuit against Hegseth, the Department of Defense and others in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
UPDATE: Kelly makes several arguments but of particular note is his claim that the punishment violates the speech or debate clause — essentially any member of Congress who is also a veteran could be chilled from speaking out if they could face punishment from the executive –…
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 12, 2026
Last week Mark Kelly threatened to get in Hegseth’s face.
He also called Hegseth’s censure “bullshit” and said he may confront the Secretary of War at this week’s briefing.
“So [Hegseth’s] option, right now, is he can continue with this kind of bullshit, or he can go take a hike. That’s his options. And if I have an opportunity to tell him that tomorrow, maybe I will,” Mark Kelly said to CNN’s Manu Raju and others.
WATCH:
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