A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Defense from demoting Senator Mark Kelly and cutting his retirement pension after the Arizona Democrat appeared in a video urging U.S. service members to refuse unlawful orders.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that Pentagon officials violated Kelly’s First Amendment rights by initiating disciplinary actions arising from a November video in which the former Navy captain reminded troops that the law requires them to refuse illegal directives. The decision bars the Pentagon from reducing Kelly’s retired military rank or pension pay while litigation continues.
Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut who represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate, sued the Department of Defense in January after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a censure on January 5. That censure was part of early proceedings that the Pentagon said could result in a reduction of Kelly’s retirement grade and pay.
In his preliminary injunction order, Leon wrote that the Pentagon’s actions imperiled not just Kelly’s rights but also those of millions of military retirees by chilling speech on matters of public concern. “This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” Leon wrote.
The judge said the speech at issue was “unquestionably protected” under the Constitution, and that punishing Kelly for it would overreach the authority of military regulations. “Horsefeathers!” Leon wrote in rejecting the government’s assertion that Kelly was trying to sidestep military justice.
The ruling follows a D.C. grand jury’s decision earlier this week not to indict Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers featured in the video, who collectively urged service members to uphold the Constitution and not follow unlawful orders. Those lawmakers included Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin and several members of the House of Representatives, all of whom are veterans or former intelligence officials.
The November video that triggered the controversy was released amid broader criticism by Democrats of President Donald Trump‘s deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities and authorization of lethal strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs from Latin America. In the clip, Kelly stated: “Our laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders.”
Within days, President Trump took to social media to denounce the lawmakers’ message as “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” remarks that amplified the stakes of the unfolding legal battle. Hegseth has vowed to appeal the decision, ominously writing on social media that “This will be immediately appealed. Sedition is sedition, ‘Captain.’
Kelly welcomed the court’s decision, framing it as a defense of constitutional norms. In a video statement posted after the ruling, Kelly said the case was bigger than his own rights and that the Trump administration was trying to send a message to all veterans that dissent would not be tolerated. But he also said he expected the legal fight to continue.
He captioned the video, “Trump and his Administration want to make an example out of me so they can scare Americans like you and keep you from speaking out against him. The most patriotic thing any of us can do right now is to keep speaking up.”
