{"id":3672,"date":"2026-01-13T22:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T22:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/mvp\/?p=3672"},"modified":"2026-01-13T22:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T22:18:16","slug":"u-s-senator-mark-kelly-sues-pentagon-over-alleged-unconstitutional-punishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/u-s-senator-mark-kelly-sues-pentagon-over-alleged-unconstitutional-punishment\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Senator Mark Kelly Sues Pentagon Over Alleged \u201cUnconstitutional\u201d Punishment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.)<\/strong> has filed a federal lawsuit against Defense Secretary <strong>Pete Hegseth<\/strong>, the Department of Defense and other officials, arguing that recent actions taken against him are unconstitutional. The legal action was filed Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Continue reading on next page\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Basis of the Lawsuit<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kelly\u2019s complaint challenges a <strong>formal letter of censure<\/strong> placed in his retired military personnel file and the initiation of proceedings that could reduce his retired rank and associated pension. He argues that these moves are in retaliation for his participation in a video released in November that urged U.S. military and intelligence personnel to refuse orders they believe are illegal \u2014 a message he and other lawmakers framed as support for constitutional duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawsuit describes the Pentagon\u2019s actions as violations of <strong>constitutional protections<\/strong>, including the First Amendment\u2019s guarantee of free speech and the Constitution\u2019s \u201cSpeech or Debate Clause,\u201d which shields lawmakers from legal consequences tied to their official legislative activities. Kelly\u2019s team is asking the court to declare the Pentagon\u2019s disciplinary steps unlawful and to block their enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">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\u2014and this or any administration\u2014accountable. His unconstitutional\u2026<\/p>&mdash; Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenMarkKelly\/status\/2010787235549876286?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 12, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Triggered the Dispute<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Secretary Hegseth announced earlier this month that the Pentagon had censured Kelly and would begin an administrative process that could <strong>lower his retired military rank and reduce retirement pay<\/strong>. Pentagon officials described Kelly\u2019s participation in the video as \u201creckless misconduct\u201d that could undermine military discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The November video, featuring Kelly alongside other Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds, spoke about constitutional responsibilities and urged service members to uphold the law and refuse orders that are unlawful. Although all lawmakers involved served in military or related roles, only Kelly\u2019s retired military status put him under Pentagon jurisdiction for possible action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal and Political Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kelly\u2019s lawsuit underscores a rare legal challenge by a sitting U.S. senator against the Defense Department, raising broader questions about the boundaries between political speech, military discipline, and legislative oversight. His attorneys argue that penalizing a lawmaker for public commentary on policy matters could set a dangerous precedent and chill political speech by veterans and public officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The judge assigned to the case is expected to consider requests to halt the Pentagon\u2019s actions while the court reviews the lawsuit. A temporary restraining order or preliminary hearing could occur in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Official Responses<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon has acknowledged the lawsuit but <strong>declined to comment on ongoing litigation<\/strong>. Statements from Hegseth\u2019s office earlier described actions against Kelly as justified under military regulations and within the Department\u2019s authority. No further official responses have been issued pending the court\u2019s review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"US Strikes Venezuela: Trump Says US Will Take Charge Of Venezuela After Maduro Capture | Originals\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3bsZ5u-RM1Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) has filed a federal lawsuit against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense and other&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3674,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions\/3674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/menufiyat.net\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}