WASHINGTON, D.C. (KGUN) — Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon officials, accusing the administration of an unprecedented and unconstitutional effort to punish him for speaking out — by seeking to strip the retired Navy captain of his retirement grade and pay.
On the Senate floor, Kelly framed the legal fight as a defense of core democratic safeguards. He recounted 25 years of service — from bombing missions in Operation Desert Storm to four space shuttle flights and recovery work after the Columbia disaster — and said the Pentagon’s move was a direct attack on what he “earned through my 25 years of military service.” Kelly warned that if Hegseth succeeds, “every retired veteran” could live under the constant threat of having rank and pay taken away years after leaving uniformed service simply for public speech.
Watch Kelly's Full Speech Below:
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, asks a judge to declare Hegseth’s actions unlawful and to block any effort to downgrade Kelly’s retired rank. The complaint argues the First Amendment forbids government retaliation for protected speech, that statutory limits on retirement-grade reductions do not cover post-retirement political speech, and that the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause shields certain legislative conduct from executive punishment.
Kelly said the censure stems from comments he made reiterating the longstanding legal duty of service members to refuse unlawful orders — an obligation taught to every recruit and, he noted, previously invoked by others across the government. “Somehow, restating the law is now against the law,” Kelly told the chamber, saying Hegseth’s letter accused him of improper conduct for doing precisely that.
The dispute escalated after Pentagon proceedings were initiated to review Kelly’s retirement grade and after Hegseth publicly criticized the senator’s statements as seditious. Kelly accused the defense secretary of short-circuiting due process — making a conclusive determination without the procedures the department’s rules require — and of attempting to chill speech by retired service members who speak out on matters of public concern.
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Legal experts and lawmakers watching the filing said the case tests novel constitutional ground: whether the executive branch can use military administrative mechanisms to penalize a sitting member of Congress for political speech. Reuters, NBC, The Hill and other outlets reported Kelly’s suit Monday; the complaint explicitly warns that allowing such executive action would erode the separation of powers and give future secretaries unchecked leverage over veterans’ livelihoods.
Kelly closed his remarks by invoking the oath he first took as an ensign and the broader duty of patriots across generations to defend constitutional protections. “I’ve never backed down from a fight for our country, and I’m not going to back down from this one,” he said.
The case is likely to move quickly given the stakes — constitutional protections for lawmakers, the limits of executive power over retired military personnel, and political flashpoints about dissent and discipline inside the armed forces. For now, Kelly’s suit asks the court to halt what he calls retaliatory measures and to protect the retirement grade he says was earned in uniform. The Pentagon declined immediate comment in earlier reporting; the legal battle is expected to draw attorneys general, constitutional scholars and military lawyers into a high-profile showdown.
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