1. United States
2. Letter

I am writing to urge you to publicly oppose Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to initiate retirement grade determination proceedings against Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. This action, announced on Monday, threatens to demote Kelly and reduce his retirement pay based on a video in which he called on service members to refuse illegal orders. This is a dangerous abuse of power that threatens the First Amendment rights of all retired service members. Senator Kelly, a retired Navy captain who served until 2011 and commanded a space shuttle mission, earned his rank through decades of service and sacrifice. Hegseth's characterization of Kelly's video as "seditious" is baseless. The video, released in November by six Democratic lawmakers who are veterans or former national security officials, simply reminded service members of their constitutional duty to refuse illegal orders. This is not sedition. It is a fundamental principle of military law established after World War II. Hegseth's letter of censure states that Kelly remains accountable to military justice because he receives a military pension. However, retired service members retain their First Amendment rights to criticize government officials and policies. Using the threat of court-martial and financial punishment to silence political speech sets a chilling precedent that could intimidate millions of veterans from exercising their constitutional rights. The Pentagon previously announced in November that it was reviewing misconduct allegations against Kelly to determine whether to recall him to active duty for court-martial proceedings. This escalating retaliation appears designed to punish Kelly for his criticism of the administration, not to uphold military discipline. I ask you to speak out against this action and support legislation that protects the First Amendment rights of retired service members. Kelly has stated he will fight this with everything he has, not for himself, but to ensure that no administration can dictate what Americans can say about their government. Congress must ensure he does not fight alone.