Two Republican senators cautioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against going after Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., to punish him for making a video with other lawmakers urging military members not to follow unlawful orders.
The GOP senators who warned Hegseth are Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, according to The Hill newspaper.
Kelly was censured by the Pentagon, which Tillis said was “ridiculous,” but he did criticize the Arizona senator.
“That video was rage bait but my gosh, he is a U.S. senator who operates in a political world,” Tillis said, according to HuffPost.
Hegseth announced on Monday he was taking steps to demote Kelly and cut his pension in half over the video.
“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 wrote on X. “Therefore, in response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret).
“The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”
Hegseth also said he issued a formal Letter of Censure outlining Kelly’s misconduct, saying it is a “necessary process step,” and it will be added to his official and permanent military personnel file.
Collins said it wasn’t appropriate to go after Kelly’s pension.
Kelly is a retired Navy captain who flew 39 combat missions and was also an astronaut who went on four space missions.
“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. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that,” Kelly wrote on X in response to Hegseth. “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.”
In addition to Kelly, the video that was posted in November included Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former Central Intelligence Agency agent; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., a former Naval officer; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., a former Naval officer, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., a former Air Force officer; and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a former Army officer.
