Defiant Mark Kelly hits back at Hegseth over 'seditious' video

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., on Monday hit back at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after he announced an administrative action to downgrade his retirement pension over the senator's participation in a video he called "seditious."

Late last year, Kelly appeared alongside Democratic lawmakers in a video urging members of the military to ignore "illegal orders" from the president. Hegseth on Monday announced that the department would downgrade his retirement grade and, consequently, his pension.

"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 said. "It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that."

Hegseth's statement further asserted that Kelly's conduct violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice and that he had issued a formal censure letter for Kelly's personnel file.

"[T]he Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret)," Hegseth announced. "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."

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.