WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the Pentagon is taking steps to downgrade Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s military retirement rank and pay because of his “seditious statements.”
Hegseth said in a statement that Kelly, of Arizona, a retired Navy captain, was part of a group of members of Congress who six weeks ago “released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline.”
“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice,” Hegseth said in the statement on X, using the Trump administration’s name for the Defense Department.
The Pentagon said in November that it was launching an investigation into Kelly because of the video he and other Democratic lawmakers recorded urging members of the military and the intelligence community not to follow illegal orders from the Trump administration.
The other Democratic lawmakers who appeared in the video message also served in the military or the intelligence community. They included Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania. No action has been taken against them.
Hegseth said on X that in response to Kelly’s “seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct,” the Pentagon started “retirement grade determination proceedings” against him, “with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”
He added that he also issued a formal letter of censure, which outlines Kelly’s “reckless misconduct.”
“This Censure is a necessary process step, and will be placed in Captain Kelly’s official and permanent military personnel file,” he said.
In the censure letter, which Kelly’s office provided to NBC News, Hegseth said Kelly had “directly attacked the legitimacy of military leadership and the lawfulness of their orders,” had said things that “directly prejudice good order and discipline” and had “engaged in conduct that seriously compromises your standing as an officer and brings dishonor to the officer corps.”
Kelly has 30 days to submit a response, and the process to downgrade his retirement rank will be completed within 45 days, Hegseth said.
“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 said. “This conduct was seditious in nature and violated Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to which Captain Kelly remains subject as a retired officer receiving pay.”
In a sharply worded response, Kelly noted on X that he had served more than 25 years in the Navy, including involvement in 39 combat missions and four missions to space, and “risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution — including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.”
“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,” Kelly said. “It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”
“If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it,” Kelly continued. “I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”
Kelly was a guest Monday night on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” where continued criticizing Hegseth and the Trump administration. “I felt an obligation — an obligation to send a message and also to stand up to this president,” Kelly said.
Host Jon Stewart said the administration was trying to take away Kelly’s pension and rank. “That is what they’re trying to do. I am going to do everything in my power not to allow them to do that,” Kelly replied.
Kelly said his fight includes an opportunity to appeal should the Department of Defense reduce his retirement grade, which determines his pension, but he also raised the possibility of filing a federal lawsuit against Trump administration officials for what he characterized as their attempt to violate his freedom of speech.
“You can’t be stifling people’s freedom of speech,” he said. “We have a right in our country to speak out about the government, to say things about the president. They can’t take that away from us.”
His wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Arizona, who retired in 2012 after surviving an assassination attempt in 2011 that left her with a severe brain injury, was at the taping Monday night.
“We’re going to get through it,” Kelly said after Giffords was shown sitting in the audience.
When the Pentagon first opened its investigation into Kelly, the Defense Department said it had initiated a review to determine further action, including recalling Kelly to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.
In an interview Monday night on MS NOW, Kelly speculated about why Hegseth decided on censuring him instead of pursuing one of the other punitive measures.
“Today, we’re at the point where I guess they realize they wouldn’t do well with a jury and a court-martial, so they’re just going to go on their own and try to demote me after 25 years of service in the United States Navy,” he said.
