Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, on Monday sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon over a move to punish him for a video he released with other lawmakers reminding military members that they must not follow illegal orders.
The Defense Department said last week that it was taking administrative action against Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut who is serving his first full term in the Senate, that could reduce his retirement rank and military pension.
Mr. Hegseth has accused the senator, who is regarded as a potential 2028 presidential contender, of sedition and treason for posting a video along with five other Democratic lawmakers in which he did not name any specific order but said: “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.”
The lawsuit filed in Washington asked a federal judge to block the Pentagon’s efforts to punish Mr. Kelly and find them “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” the complaint stated. “That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.”
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a “formal letter of censure” that Mr. Hegseth released last week, he accused the senator of characterizing lawful military operations as “illegal” in a “sustained pattern” that began in June 2025.
The letter cited the senator criticizing Mr. Hegseth for firing generals and admirals and saying that the defense secretary had surrounded himself with “yes men.”
“That’s my job,” Mr. Kelly said on the Senate floor on Monday. “I have every right to say these things as an American, as a retired service member and as a U.S. senator.”
Mr. Hegseth wrote on social media last week that Mr. Kelly’s status as a sitting senator “does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action.” The defense secretary indicated that a decision on whether to reduce the senator’s rank and pension would be made by mid-February.
But the lawsuit argued that Mr. Kelly’s public statements about policy and personnel were lawful under a section of the Constitution known as the “speech or debate” clause.
That section has long been interpreted to protect members of Congress from executive or judicial discipline for not only their speech but also their legislative work broadly.
Mr. Kelly argued in his lawsuit that as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he has a role to provide congressional oversight over Mr. Hegseth’s actions.
Failure to block any disciplinary action against the senator “would invert the constitutional structure by subordinating the legislative branch to executive discipline and chilling congressional oversight of the armed forces,” the complaint stated.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice still applies to Mr. Kelly as a retired naval officer. The administration could recall him to active duty and discipline him, unless the court were to block such action.
His fellow Democratic lawmakers in the video released last year did not serve long enough to retire and receive a pension, and are not subject to military law.
Megan Mineiro is a Times congressional reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early-career journalists.
The post Kelly Sues Pentagon Over Threats of Punishment From Hegseth appeared first on New York Times.
