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OAN Staff Sophia Flores and Sani Unutoa
7:42 PM – Monday, January 12, 2026
Senator Mark Kelly has taken legal action against Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The retired Navy captain filed a federal civil lawsuit against Hegseth and other senior military leaders on Monday over threats to reduce his military pension and censure him.
Kelly (D-Ariz.) is facing potential disciplinary action after appearing in a video with several other Democrats telling troops to “refuse illegal orders” following the Trump administration’s ongoing airstrikes on suspected cartel vessels in the Caribbean.
The lawmakers began the video, which is titled “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” by highlighting their background in the intelligence and military community, before urging U.S. service members to “refuse unlawful orders” and to “stand up for our laws.”
“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the lawmakers argued in the video.
“Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.”
“Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders,” they continued. “You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
Hegseth issued a letter of censure to Kelly soon after the video was posted online and started the process of demoting him and cutting his retirement pay.
Kelly’s lawsuit calls for a judicial review of the Department of War’s actions.
The suit says Hegseth’s censure will inflict “immediate and irreparable harm.”
“If permitted to stand, the Secretary’s censure and the grade-determination proceedings that he has directed will inflict immediate and irreparable harm,” the lawsuit states. “The censure, the grade-reduction process, and its inevitable outcome impose official punishment for protected speech, chill legislative oversight, and threaten reductions in rank and pay.”
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