Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fashions himself a tough guy, but on Monday he played the role of human-resources administrator, thundering that he would be adding a letter to Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly’s “personnel file.”
Kelly, a retired Navy captain, appeared in a November video with other Democratic lawmakers to say that members of the U.S. military can disobey illegal orders. That prompted a threat by the Pentagon to criminally prosecute or court-martial him for interfering with the good order and discipline of the armed forces. Now the department has retreated.
Hegseth posted Monday that Kelly’s conduct was “seditious,” and that the appropriate penalty is … a censure letter. That’s obviously not the typical penalty for sedition. But the Trump administration’s prosecutions of political rivals are sputtering, and charges against Kelly would have failed as well.
Kelly’s invitation to troops to disobey orders was provocative. Soldiers can’t be expected to be constitutional scholars assessing every order they are given. But he is right that blatantly unlawful directives aren’t binding. In any case, members of Congress need a wide berth to engage in political speech, including criticism of the president’s use of the military.
The climbdown is welcome, but Hegseth is still doing damage. He says Kelly could be prosecuted in the future and that he’s initiated administrative proceedings to potentially reduce Kelly’s rank or pension. It’s not uncommon for members of Congress to be military veterans, and often they are the lawmakers with the most to say about military affairs. A partisan demotion of Kelly for his advocacy would set a precedent that a Democratic president could use against GOP members of Congress.
Meanwhile, Kelly gave a strong statement in response: “My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head.” He will survive the blustery letter in his file.
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