Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) filed a lawsuit Monday against War Secretary Pete Hegseth, the War Department, the Navy, and Navy Secretary John Phelan over the fallout from his participation in a video with other Democrats warning service members not to carry out illegal orders.
Specifically, the Arizona Democrat is looking for the court to rule that the secretary’s decision to start retirement grade reduction proceedings and the official censure letter are “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
The complaint argues that the Pentagon’s effort to punish him would “trample on protections” the Constitution provides for legislative independence.
“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” the complaint reads. “That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.”
Kelly, who has not backed down on his stance regarding the video that instigated the current situation, described the effort against him as an “unconstitutional crusade” and argued that it “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.”
It marks the latest turn in the saga that dates back to November 2025, when Kelly and five other Democrats who had served in either the military or intelligence community participated in a choreographed video reminding service members of their legal obligation not to follow illegal orders.
Following the announcement of the censure letter and grade reduction proceedings last week, Kelly stated that “Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired service member that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous, and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) were in the video as well.
Both Hegseth and President Donald Trump, as well as many of their supporters, have accused the six lawmakers of trying to sow doubts to have service members question their orders. In the days after the video was shared online, they accused the Democrats involved with it of committing treason and sedition.
The president said in the days after the video was released that these members of Congress were guilty of “seditious behavior, punishable by death.”
PENTAGON ANNOUNCES ‘THOROUGH REVIEW’ INTO MARK KELLY OVER ‘ILLEGAL ORDERS’ VIDEO
Kelly alleges in the lawsuit that the Hegseth-initiated review had a “preordained” outcome, given his and Trump’s public comments.
He is the only participant in the video who is still under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is why he was the only one for whom Pentagon officials have sought consequences.
