Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) asked a federal judge on Monday to immediately quash Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to launch an investigation of the senator aimed at reducing his retired military rank and pension. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Kelly said Hegseth was pursuing legal action to “signal to retired service members” that they could face “retaliation” for speaking out against Pentagon policies.
Hegseth’s move, Kelly said, “signals to retired service members and Members of Congress that criticism of the Executive’s use of the armed forces may be met with retaliation through military channels.”
A move to demote Kelly in retirement over a November video message, the suit said, was “unconstitutional and legally baseless.”
In a statement to Task & Purpose after publication, a Defense Department official said: “We are aware of the litigation. However, as a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation.”
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Filed in the District Court for Washington, D.C., Kelly’s lawsuit lists Hegseth, the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy and Navy Secretary John Phelan as defendants and asks the court to issue an emergency relief by Friday, Jan. 16.
The suit is the latest escalation in the fight between the senator and the secretary after Hegseth moved to censure Kelly and start a process to reduce his rank last week. Hegseth had previously threatened to prosecute Kelly, a retired Navy captain, combat pilot and astronaut, for a Nov. 18 video urging troops not to follow unlawful military orders. Kelly was one of six current members of Congress with intelligence and military backgrounds who released a video aimed at American service members in the early weeks of the Pentagon’s bombing campaign of vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
In the video, Kelly said: “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.” Neither Kelly nor the other congress members in the video directly accused the president and or Hegseth of issuing any such illegal orders.
In response to the video, Trump posted on social media that the message was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR punishable by DEATH!” Hegseth quickly announced he was considering legal options against the senator, including a court-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, based on his status as a retired captain.
Last week, Hegseth ordered an administrative review of Kelly, to be led by the Navy, which could reduce his retirement rank, which would also reduce his military pension.
“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him — and this or any administration — accountable,” Kelly said in a statement today after filing the suit. “His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.”
Hegseth also wrote and released a Secretarial Letter of Censure of Kelly, saying that the senator was undermining the chain of command and creating confusion about duty. Last week, Kelly called the censure and the efforts to prosecute him “nonsense.”
Kelly is seeking to get the court to declare the actions against him unlawful and vacate them. Kelly is presented by Paul Fishman with the firm Arnold & Porter.
Update: 1/12/2026; This story has been updated with comment from a Defense official.
