PHOENIX, Arizona. — Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, challenging efforts to censure him and downgrade his military retirement rank following his participation in a video urging service members to reject unlawful orders.
Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot and astronaut, argues that the Pentagon’s actions would violate constitutional protections for legislative independence and free speech. His complaint asserts that the executive branch has never before attempted to impose military sanctions on a sitting U.S. senator for engaging in political expression, particularly speech related to public policy and the rule of law.
“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” the lawsuit states, emphasizing that those protections apply with special force to elected lawmakers. Kelly contends that reducing his retirement rank and pension would amount to unconstitutional retaliation designed to chill political dissent.
The dispute stems from a video shared online by six Democrats, including Kelly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), and Jason Crow (D-Colo.). In the video, the lawmakers called on service members to refuse unlawful orders, a message critics within the administration argue undermines military discipline.
Kelly’s lawsuit seeks to block any downgrade of his rank or benefits, framing the Pentagon’s response as an unprecedented attempt to police lawmakers’ speech through military authority. The Hill has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment, but no response had been issued at the time of publication.
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