Article Summary –
A federal judge criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to demote Sen. Mark Kelly, viewing it as a violation of veterans’ free speech rights. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and current senator, faces demotion for urging military personnel to refuse unlawful orders, sparking legal and political controversy.
WASHINGTON – During a Tuesday hearing, a federal judge criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to demote Sen. Mark Kelly, calling it an unprecedented challenge to military veterans’ free speech rights.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon expressed concern over the executive branch using a Navy pension to silence a Congress member.
“How are they supposed to do their job?” Judge Leon questioned during the 45-minute session about Kelly’s effort to avoid demotion and reduced retirement pay.
Sen. Kelly, an Arizona Democrat on the Pentagon oversight committee, retired as a Navy captain in 2011 after flying combat and space shuttle missions.
MORE: Arizonans react to the Pentagon’s latest move against Sen. Mark Kelly
In a video from Nov. 18, Kelly and five other Democratic veteran lawmakers urged military personnel to refuse unlawful orders.
The video did not specify orders, but Democrats at the time opposed President Trump’s National Guard deployment in cities and Caribbean strikes on smugglers.
Trump later demanded on Truth Social that the six lawmakers be tried for sedition.
On Jan. 5, Hegseth censured Kelly for “seditious statements” and “reckless misconduct,” announcing his demotion.
The Defense Department has not disclosed Kelly’s new rank.
“Captain Kelly’s status as a Senator doesn’t exempt him from accountability,” Hegseth stated, alleging the video undermined military discipline.
Kelly attended the hearing, seated with his lawyers in the federal courthouse near the Capitol.
“Today was about my constitutional rights and all Americans’ freedom of speech,” Kelly told reporters. “It’s fundamental to democracy.”
Judge Leon, appointed by President Bush, challenged Justice Department lawyer John Bailey to provide precedents of military retirees facing punishment for political views. Bailey did not produce any cases.
“You haven’t been able to find a case,” the judge noted. “You’re asking me to do something unprecedented.”
Kelly filed a lawsuit on Jan. 12 to stop the demotion. The hearing addressed his request for a preliminary injunction, with a ruling by Feb. 11 expected.
Experts say reminding military personnel to refuse illegal orders aligns with their training.
“This is far off the charts,” said John Vile, professor at Middle Tennessee State University, criticizing the administration for intimidating dissenters.
Other lawmakers in the video lack sufficient service for retirement pay and aren’t subject to military discipline. Discipline is rare for post-active duty retirees.
Kelly has rallied $12.5 million in donations since the video’s release and launched a legal defense fund.
Every Senate Democrat, including Kelly, voted against Hegseth’s confirmation, which passed due to VP JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote.
Support for Kelly includes Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who recalled Hegseth’s 2016 Fox News comments stating military refusal of illegal orders was “standard.”
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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