Hegseth appeals court decision blocking punishment of Dem Sen Mark Kelly over 'illegal' orders video

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is appealing a court decision that blocked the punishment of Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly over a video urging military members to ignore "illegal" orders.

Hegseth on Tuesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to toss out a district court ruling that halted his efforts to demote Kelly, a former Navy captain, and reduce his military retirement pay, NOTUS reported.

Kelly and five other congressional Democrats, all veterans or former Intelligence Community members, told service members in a video that they are not required to follow illegal orders.

The others were Sen. Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan; and Reps. Jason Crow, of Colorado; Maggie Goodlander, of New Hampshire; and Chrissy Houlahan and Chris Deluzio, both of Pennsylvania. 

Hegseth and President Trump called the video “sedition.”

Kelly shared an article on X on Tuesday regarding Hegseth's appeal, writing, "These guys don’t know when to quit.

"A federal judge told Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth that they violated my constitutional rights and chilled the free speech of millions of retired veterans. There is only one reason to appeal that ruling: to keep trampling on the free speech rights of retired veterans and silence dissent. I went to war to defend Americans’ constitutional rights and I won’t back down from this fight, no matter how far they want to take it."

Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro attempted to indict the lawmakers involved in the video, but failed to convince a grand jury.