A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from moving forward with disciplinary action that could have reduced Sen. Mark Kelly’s retired military rank and affected his pension, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened punishment tied to a political video message.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued an order preventing the Defense Department and Navy officials from taking steps to demote Kelly while the case continues in court. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, sued after the Pentagon moved to censure him over a social media video in which he and several other Democratic lawmakers, all military veterans, told service members they should not follow unlawful orders.
The judge found that the threatened punishment would likely violate the First Amendment, emphasizing that retired service members do not lose their constitutional speech rights and that the government cannot penalize a sitting U.S. senator for expressing a viewpoint about military policy.
The dispute escalated after the administration accused the lawmakers involved of wrongdoing, with Hegseth publicly describing the video as “sedition.” A federal grand jury later declined to indict Kelly and the other lawmakers connected to the recording.
With the injunction in place, Kelly keeps his current retired rank for now, and the Pentagon is blocked from imposing the proposed penalty as the legal fight moves forward.