Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., filed a lawsuit Monday against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon, charging their effort to censure and demote him is "unlawful and unconstitutional."
Hegseth said last week that the Pentagon was taking steps to downgrade Kelly’s military retirement rank and pay because of his “seditious statements” — a reference to a video he and other retired service members released that urged members of the military not to comply with illegal orders.
The suit charges Hegseth's actions violate Kelly's First Amendment rights, as well as the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution, which grants immunity to lawmakers for official acts.
"It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech," says the suit, which seeks a court order declaring Hegseth's actions to be unlawful.
“Allowing Defendants to punish a Senator through military proceedings for his political speech erodes the separation of powers and gives the Executive a power over legislators that the Constitution does not contemplate,” the filing says.
The filing charges that the administration responded to Kelly's remarks "with extreme rhetoric and punitive retribution," with Hegseth and President Donald Trump branding his statements as "sedition" and "treason." Their comments deprived Kelly of his right to due process, the suit argues.
“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 a statement. "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."
Speaking on the Senate floor Monday, Kelly said that successfully censuring and demoting him would give defense secretaries power over the speech of retired veterans.
"If Pete Hegseth succeeds in silencing me, then he and every other secretary of defense who comes after him will have license to punish any retired veteran, of any political persuasion, for the things that they say," Kelly said.
"And by that logic, a 100-year-old World War II veteran could be hauled in and censured or court-martialed because he says something that Pete Hegseth disagrees with," he added.
Asked for comment on the lawsuit, a Pentagon spokesperson said in an email: “We are aware of the litigation. However, as a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation.”
Hegseth said last week that Kelly and five other Democratic members of Congress, all retired members of the military or intelligence services, had “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 in a post on X.
Hegseth's letter recommending Kelly's rank and pension be reduced said he was acting on comments Kelly had made between “June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders.”
The video released by Kelly and the others urged current military and intelligence personnel to “refuse illegal orders.”
