WASHINGTON — A federal judge blocked the Pentagon Thursday from docking Sen. Mark Kelly’s rank and reducing his pay as part of a move by War Secretary Pete Hegseth to censure the Arizona Democrat.
DC Senior US District Judge Richard J. Leon ordered the Department of War to refrain “from implementing, enforcing, or otherwise giving effect” to Hegseth’s Jan. 5 censure letter — or “taking any other action in reliance on the findings, determinations, or threats of additional criminal or administrative action contained in” it.
Kelly sued Hegseth last month over the letter that cut his pay as a retired Navy captain, blasting the Pentagon chief for pursuing an “unconstitutional and legally baseless proceeding” against him.
The Arizona senator is one of six congressional Democrats who urged US service members in a widely viewed video to “refuse illegal orders” this past November.
“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran,” Kelly said in a statement last month.
“His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.”
The lawsuit alleges the Cabinet official’s actions sought to chill Kelly’s First Amendment rights, including through his speech as a sitting member of Congress.
Hegseth had said in an X post announcing the moves: “Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately.”
The other five Democrats — Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania — evaded the same fate.
Slotkin served in the CIA, and the other four have retired from military service.
President Trump called the video “seditious behavior” and an FBI investigation followed — but a DC grand jury failed to indict any of the six on unspecified charges earlier this week.
