A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from punishing Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, for participating in a video that warned active-duty service members not to follow illegal orders.
Judge Richard J. Leon of the District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a 29-page opinion that the Defense Department’s move to discipline Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, ran roughshod over his freedom of speech.
“Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired service members, Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired service members have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years,” he wrote. “If so, they will more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the first amendment in the Bill of Rights!”
The blunt ruling came after a grand jury in Washington rejected an extraordinary attempt by federal prosecutors in Washington to secure a criminal indictment against Mr. Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers who together released a video in November directed at members of the military and intelligence community.
“Our laws are clear,” Mr. Kelly said in the video. “You can refuse illegal orders.”
The message enraged President Trump, who accused the Democrats of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
The decision on Thursday came after Mr. Kelly sued Mr. Hegseth and the Defense Department for censuring him and initiating a military review of the senator’s public statements that could result in a reduction of his retirement rank and pension.
Megan Mineiro is a Times congressional reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early-career journalists.
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