A federal judge has blocked Secretary of War Pete Hegseths effort to strip Democrat Senator Mark Kelly of rank and retirement benefits over what Hegseth has condemned as a seditious campaign to encourage U.
S. service members to defy President Trumps lawful authority.
According to Gateway Pundit, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, sided with Kelly and accused the Trump Administration of attempting to curtail the First Amendment protections of retired military personnel. The ruling comes after Kelly, a retired Navy captain and Arizona senator, filed suit last month challenging Hegseths move to discipline him for his role in a viral video that many on the right view as a direct assault on civilian control of the military.
Hegseth had previously censured Kelly and moved to cut his military retirement pay after the senator joined what critics have dubbed the Seditious Six, a group of Democrat lawmakers who publicly urged troops to resist President Trumps orders. In November, 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 professionally produced video that quickly spread online.
The Department of War had already announced it was weighing the extraordinary step of recalling Kelly to active duty for possible court-martial after his call for the military to defy the Commander-in-Chief. Hegseth ultimately stopped short of that measure, instead initiating administrative sanctions aimed at demoting Kelly and slashing his pension.
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, Hegseth said, framing the episode as a direct threat to the chain of command. 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 Kellys 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) Kellys reckless misconduct. This Censure is a necessary process step, and will be placed in Captain Kellys official and permanent military personnel file, Hegseth added.
Leons decision temporarily shields Kelly from those penalties, but it does not resolve the deeper constitutional clash between elected Democrats encouraging resistance to President Trump and a Defense Department leadership insisting that retired officers remain bound by standards of loyalty and discipline. With the Department of War signaling it still expects justice and conservatives warning about the precedent of lawmakers flirting with insubordination, the legal and political battle over Kellys conduct is likely far from over.
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