Hegseth Starts Proceedings Against Sen. Mark Kelly Over His Remarks

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted the senator for “seditious” remarks. Mr. Kelly said he had done nothing wrong and cited similar comments by Mr. Hegseth.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military had started administrative actions against Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, that could result in a reduction in his retirement rank and military pension.

In November, Mr. Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers who served in the military or the intelligence community released a video reminding their still-serving counterparts that they were obligated to refuse illegal orders.

In a social media message issued on Monday, Mr. Hegseth called the video “seditious” and criticized Mr. Kelly for a “pattern of reckless misconduct” aimed at undermining good order and discipline in the ranks.

Mr. Kelly and his lawyers maintained last month that the senator was simply articulating a fundamental principle of military law. They noted that Mr. Hegseth had made similar statements in the past.

“If you’re doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that,” Mr. Hegseth said in a speech to the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley in 2016. “That’s why the military said it won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief.”

In the video that prompted Mr. Hegseth and President Trump’s ire, Mr. Kelly said: “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.”

Mr. Kelly, who retired from the Navy as a captain, flew 39 combat missions as a naval aviator and four spaceflights as an astronaut.

As a retired naval officer, Mr. Kelly is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and therefore can be recalled to active duty and disciplined. The other Democratic lawmakers in the video did not serve long enough to retire and do not receive a pension or fall under military law.

Mr. Hegseth also issued a “formal Letter of Censure” that will be entered into Mr. Kelly’s permanent personnel file. In the letter, released by Mr. Kelly’s office on Monday, Mr. Hegseth accused the senator of engaging in “a sustained pattern of public statements” over a six-month period, starting in June 2025, that characterized lawful military operations as “illegal.”

In some of those instances, Mr. Hegseth seemed to be elevating heated disputes over policy and personnel to potentially punishable offenses. The letter, in particular, cited Mr. Kelly’s statements criticizing the defense secretary for firing generals and admirals and surrounding himself with “yes men.”

In another instance, Mr. Hegseth complained, “Throughout December 2025, you continued to accuse me and senior military officers of war crimes.”

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mr. Kelly is charged with providing congressional oversight.

The decision on whether to reduce his retirement rank and pension will be made over the next 45 days, Mr. Hegseth wrote in his message on social media.

“Captain Kelly’s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action,” Mr. Hegseth wrote.

As proceedings against Mr. Kelly moved forward last month in the Navy, 12 Democratic senators issued a letter denouncing the Trump administration’s push to punish him as “a purely political exercise seeking to threaten the legitimate and lawful actions of a duly elected senator and politicize our military justice system.”

A lawyer representing Mr. Kelly similarly wrote to Navy Secretary John Phelan last month calling the proceedings an “unprecedented and dangerous overreach.”

“There is no legitimate basis for any type of proceedings against Senator Kelly, and any such effort would be unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power,” Paul J. Fishman, the lawyer, wrote in mid-December.

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