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WASHINGTON (CN) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday moved to formally censure and demote Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, months after the lawmaker and retired Navy captain was featured in a video urging service members to reject illegal orders from President Donald Trump.
It’s the Pentagon’s first retribution against the group of congressional Democrats and military veterans who in November accused the Trump administration of pitting the military and intelligence community against U.S. citizens — a move branded as “seditious” by Hegseth and White House officials.
In a social media post Monday morning, the defense secretary announced the Pentagon had initiated “retirement grade determination proceedings” against Kelly.
“Captain Kelly’s status as a sitting United States senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action,” Hegseth wrote.
Kelly, a Navy pilot and astronaut who retired from the service in 2011, has retained his rank of captain and receives retirement pay from the government. Under federal law, however, the Pentagon can reassess a military officer’s retired rank if the defense secretary determines that “good cause exists” to reopen proceedings. If the Defense Department follows through on the move, Kelly could be demoted from captain and have his pension reduced.
Hegseth also announced he had issued a letter of censure against the Arizona Democrat outlining what he called Kelly’s “reckless misconduct.” The letter will be placed in the senator’s military personnel file, he added.
The defense secretary was clear the pending demotion proceedings against Kelly were at least in part punishment for his participation in the November “illegal orders” video.
“These actions are based on Captain Kelly’s public statements from June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders,” Hegseth wrote.
In a statement Monday morning, Kelly slammed news of his possible demotion, accusing Hegseth of trying to “intimidate” him and arguing that he was under attack by the Trump administration for exercising his right to “speak out.”
“Pete 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,” wrote Kelly. “It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”
Kelly said that he would fight the Pentagon action “with everything I’ve got.”
Hegseth said the senator had been informed of the proceedings and he had 30 days to submit a response. The grade determination review would be complete in roughly 45 days, the defense secretary noted.
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the Pentagon of undertaking a “despicable act of political retribution.”
“Mark Kelly is a hero and a patriot committed to serving the American people,” Schumer said. “Pete Hegseth is a lap dog committed to serving one man — Donald Trump.”
The Pentagon in November opened an investigation into Kelly following his participation in the video clip, accusing the senator of interfering with the “good order and discipline” of the armed forces and running afoul of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Kelly joined a group of other congressional Democrats — all military veterans — in warning U.S. service members the Trump administration had threatened Americans’ trust in the military and said its actions ran counter to the Constitution.
“Our laws are clear,” the lawmakers say in the video. “You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders.”
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, Pennsylvania Representative Chrissy Houlahan and Colorado Representative Jason Crow were among the other Democrats who took part in the video. So far, the Pentagon has not publicly announced any disciplinary action against those lawmakers, but the FBI is reportedly investigating their conduct.
Trump himself, meanwhile, has fumed over Democrats urging the military to reject his orders. In a social media post late last year the president called the lawmakers’ video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” and suggested they should be executed.
The Pentagon’s move to demote Kelly comes just days after the military carried out an audacious strike in Venezuela in which special forces captured President Nicolás Maduro. Democrats have slammed the operation, carried out without congressional approval or notification, as an illegal use of military force.
Kelly wrote in a social media post on Saturday he disagreed with the administration’s justification for the capturing Maduro and said Trump didn’t understand “the risks and costs involved with these poorly thought-out decisions.”
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