Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) filed a lawsuit Monday against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, challenging efforts to censure him and reduce his retirement rank after he appeared in a video urging service members to refuse unlawful orders.
Kelly argues the Pentagon’s move to cut his retirement rank and pension would violate constitutional protections for legislative independence, saying the executive branch has never before imposed military penalties on a lawmaker for engaging in what it deems disfavored political speech.
“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” the complaint reads. “That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.”
Hegseth’s efforts against Kelly came after six Democrats participated in a video online calling on service members to “refuse illegal orders”: Kelly and Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Reps. Chris Deluzio (Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (N.H.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.) and Jason Crow (Colo.). They became known as the Seditious Six
VIDEO: Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly throws a tantrum over Pentagon censure
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