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Washington — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the Pentagon had begun a process to demote Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and cut his retirement pay over a video in which Kelly, a retired Navy captain, called on service members to “refuse illegal orders.”
In a post on X, Hegseth said he had issued a letter of censure to Kelly, who served in the Navy until 2011. In response, Kelly said he will “fight this with everything I’ve got.”
The Pentagon, Hegseth’s post said, “has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings” that could result in a “reduction in his retired grade” and “a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”
“Captain Kelly has been provided notice of the basis for this action and has thirty days to submit a response,” the post said. “The retirement grade determination process directed by Secretary Hegseth will be completed within forty five days.”
Hegseth said that he had “issued a formal Letter of Censure, which outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly’s reckless misconduct.”
“This Censure is a necessary process step, and will be placed in Captain Kelly’s official and permanent military personnel file,” Hegseth added.
The Pentagon announced in November that it was conducting a review of misconduct allegations against Kelly to determine whether he should be recalled to active duty to face court-martial proceedings.
On Monday, Hegseth called the video “seditious,” adding that it was “clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline.”
“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice,” Hegseth said.
Kelly was one of six Democratic lawmakers who released a video in November urging service members and members of the intelligence community to defy “illegal orders,” citing threats to the Constitution. The group, who are all veterans or former national security officials, included Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and House members Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire.
The Arizona Democrat is a former astronaut and is married to former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in a 2011 assassination attempt in Arizona. He responded to Hegseth’s announcement on X.
“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 — all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder,” Kelly said. “Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.”
Kelly added that Hegseth “wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way,” calling it “outrageous” and “wrong.”
“If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it,” Kelly said. “I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”
