From The Hill: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told CNN he is seriously considering running for president in 2028.
“I still think it needs to be the right person for the moment, and we don’t know what that moment is yet,” he said in a wide-ranging interview published Wednesday.
The retired astronaut and Navy officer is embroiled in a legal fight with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who Kelly sued earlier this month for attempting to censure him and lower his retirement rank after he participated in a video urging service members to reject illegal orders.
Arguing the Pentagon’s retaliation violates the independence of the legislative branch and an apolitical military, Kelly asked a federal judge to block the moves and declare them unlawful.
Hegseth made the move to censure Kelly, a Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut, after he participated in a video in November that called for U.S. military service members to disobey orders from their Commander in Chief if they believed the orders were “illegal.”
The video prompted outrage from conservatives, and especially from War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Kelly has defended himself, claiming his free speech rights are being violated. In his lawsuit, Kelly declared, “The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech. That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.”
“I’m a f—ing US senator. I have, in theory — in theory — supercharged First Amendment speech rights under the speech and debate clause, and they’re trampling on that,” Kelly fumed in his interview with CNN.
“Maybe he is the man for this moment.” That’s what people in rural Georgia told @IsaacDovere about Senator Mark Kelly. Read more about Isaac’s interview with the senator here: https://t.co/zQbSmUPSp6 pic.twitter.com/MC89zC7igS
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics) January 21, 2026
Prison? White House? Mark Kelly told me he’s been thinking about both possibilities:
“I’m a fucking US senator. I have, in theory — in theory — supercharged First Amendment speech rights under the speech and debate clause, and they’re trampling on that.”https://t.co/lksQlwtpnT
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) January 21, 2026
READ MORE from The Hill.
In mid-November, six Democrats in U.S. Congress – two senators and four representatives – released a video montage which encouraged members of the U.S. military to disobey “illegal” orders from their Commander in Chief.
The Democrats participating in the stunt were Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ), Rep. Chris DeLuzio (Pa.), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (NH), and Rep. Jason Crow (Col.).
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025
VIDEO: Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly throws a tantrum over Pentagon censure
Senator Mark Kelly, to CNN, says he’s seriously thinking about running for president https://t.co/RSH7dkbp3E
— The Hill (@thehill) January 22, 2026
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