{"id":403733,"date":"2026-02-04T13:16:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=403733"},"modified":"2026-02-04T13:29:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:29:51","slug":"cronkite-news-judge-questions-targeting-of-democratic-lawmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/02\/04\/cronkite-news-judge-questions-targeting-of-democratic-lawmaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Judge questions targeting of Democratic lawmaker"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Mark<\/a>
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks with reporters February 3, 2026, outside the federal courthouse in downtown Washington, D.C., after a hearing on the Pentagon’s effort to demote him from retired Navy captain. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump accused him and five other military or CIA veterans now in Congress of “sedition” and treason for a reminding military personnel of their duty to refuse illegal orders. Photo by Alysa Horton \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
Judge sees Hegseth bid to demote Sen. Mark Kelly as assault on free speech of veterans<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, February 4, 2026<\/div>\r\n
By Alysa Horton<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\r\n

WASHINGTON — At a hearing Tuesday, a federal judge cast Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s effort to demote Sen. Mark Kelly in retirement as an unprecedented attack on the free speech rights of military veterans.<\/p>\r\n

The judge also indicated he finds it unacceptable for the executive branch to try to silence a member of Congress by using his Navy pension as leverage.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHow are they supposed to do their job?\u201d U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said during a 45-minute hearing on Kelly\u2019s effort to avoid demotion and a cut in retirement pay.<\/p>\r\n

The Arizona Democrat serves on the committee that oversees the Pentagon. He retired with the rank of captain in 2011. During his 25 years in uniform, he flew dozens of combat missions and four space shuttle missions for NASA.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

In a video<\/a> released November 18, Kelly and five other Democrats in Congress, all veterans of the military or CIA, urged active duty personnel to refuse unlawful orders.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

The video doesn\u2019t specify any such orders. But at the time, Democrats were criticizing President Donald Trump over National Guard deployments into U.S. cities and deadly strikes in the Caribbean on purported drug smugglers.<\/p>\r\n

Days later, Trump took to Truth Social and said the six lawmakers should be \u201cARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL\u201d for \u201cSEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

On January 5, Hegseth announced a letter of censure against Kelly for \u201cseditious statements\u201d in the video and a \u201cpattern of reckless misconduct,\u201c and said Kelly would be demoted.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Defense Department has not yet said what the senator\u2019s new rank would be.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cCaptain Kelly\u2019s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability,\u201d Hegseth said, adding that the video was \u201cclearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\"'You<\/a><\/div>\r\n
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), who served as a captain in the Navy, urged military personnel to \u201crefuse illegal orders\u201d in a November 18, 2025, video posted with five other Democratic lawmakers who served in uniform or in U.S. intelligence agencies. Image: youtube.com\/shorts\/Fk9Gh3qwW4I<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n

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Kelly sat behind his lawyers during the hearing at the federal courthouse near the Capitol.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cToday was a day in court, not just for my constitutional rights, but for millions of retired service members and really all Americans,\u201d he told reporters afterwards. \u201cThere’s nothing more fundamental to our democracy than the freedom of speech and the freedom to speak out about our government, and that’s what I’m fighting (for).\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The judge, named to the bench by President George W. Bush, pressed Justice Department lawyer John Bailey to cite any previous instance of a military retiree facing court-martial or other punishment for expressing a political viewpoint.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Bailey was unable to do so.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou haven\u2019t been able to find a case,\u201d the judge said. \u201cYou\u2019re asking me to do something the Supreme Court has never done.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Kelly filed a lawsuit January 12 seeking to block the demotion. Tuesday\u2019s hearing was on his request for a preliminary injunction.<\/p>\r\n

The judge said he will issue a ruling by Febuary 11.<\/p>\r\n

The consensus among scholars of military law is that reminding personnel of their duty to refuse illegal orders simply restates their training and established law.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFrankly, this is so far off the charts,\u201d said John Vile, political science professor and dean of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. \u201cWe have very broad free speech rights, and the attempt by the administration to intimidate people who oppose them is just antithetical to the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

None of the other lawmakers in the video served long enough to retire with pay, so they are not subject to military discipline. It\u2019s rare for a retiree to face such discipline except for conduct that took place during active duty.<\/p>\r\n

Donors have rallied behind Kelly. He has raised $12.5 million since releasing the video. He also created a legal defense fund.<\/p>\r\n

Kelly and every other Senate Democrat voted against Hegseth\u2019s confirmation, as did three Republicans. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.<\/p>\r\n

Others in the video have supported Kelly.<\/p>\r\n

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA analyst who held high-level posts at the departments of State and Defense and on the National Security Council, cited comments Hegseth made in 2016 when he was a commentator for Fox News. <\/p>\r\n

He called it \u201cstandard\u201d that the \u201cmilitary said it won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n