Kelly Demoted by Hegseth After Defending Troops’ Right to Disobey Illegal Orders

Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday he was issuing a formal censure against one of the six Democratic lawmakers who made a video stating that members of the U.S. military have a legal and moral obligation to ignore illegal orders from their superiors, including from President Donald Trump.

In addition to the formal censure against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), Hegseth announced he was demoting the former Navy captain and astronaut, affecting the stature and retirement benefits the senator receives.

“The Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret),” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. “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 described the video produced and shared by the Democratic lawmakers in November as “reckless,” “seditious,” and “intend[ing] to undermine good order and military discipline.” He also threatened to take further actions if Kelly engaged in similar conduct in the future.

Kelly responded to the announcement on X, writing that:

Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I 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.

Hegseth’s warnings weren’t primarily aimed at him, Kelly added, but at current and former servicemembers who would dare to criticize the administration.

“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 wrote. “It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”

The video message in question, published to the social media accounts belonging to all six lawmakers, correctly stated that members of the U.S. military can ignore orders from superiors if they believe they could be illegal, and that they have a moral obligation to do so. The message was issued as Trump floated the idea of sending U.S. military into cities, after having already deployed National Guard to them.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the video stated.

“Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution,” the lawmakers added.

Following the release of the video, President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social website, blasting the statement from the Democrats and threatening them with arrest and sedition charges.

“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump wrote in one of his posts, adding in another that their behavior was “punishable by DEATH!”

Several federal courts have since ruled Trump’s National Guard deployments as being unlawful.

Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, dean of the People’s Academy of International Law, and advisory board member for Veterans for Peace, pointed out how Trump’s claims were false — that servicemembers have the right and obligation to ignore illegal commands.

“Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a servicemember can be punished by court-martial for refusing to obey any lawful order or regulation,” Cohn wrote at Truthout, adding that, according to the UCMJ manual, unlawful orders — those that are “contrary to the Constitution, the laws of the United States, or lawful superior orders or for some other reason is beyond the authority of the official issuing it” — could and should be disregarded.

What’s more, there is plenty of historical precedent backing up the Democrats’ message.

“There is a noble tradition in the United States of servicemembers refusing orders to deploy to illegal wars and/or commit war crimes,” Cohn wrote.

Brittany DeBarros, organizing director of About Face, a post-9/11 veterans’ rights group, told Truthout prior to Trump’s inauguration that, “in the coming year, military personnel will face serious moral crossroads under a commander-in-chief who openly mocks the rule of law and Constitution.”

“The idea that a president would unleash the U.S. military on our neighborhoods to round up our hardworking neighbors is disgusting,” DeBarros added, citing Trump’s threat to send military personnel to U.S. cities. “Troops have a responsibility to refuse illegal orders and a duty to resist immoral ones.”