By Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal | February 12, 2026
A federal judge stopped War Secretary Pete Hegseth—at least temporarily—from censuring Sen. Mark Kelly for his role in a video telling American soldiers to refuse illegal orders.
Judge Rich Leon, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, on Thursday ruled in favor of Kelly, D-Ariz., a retired Navy captain, who had joined five other Democrat members of Congress telling service members to refuse “illegal” orders, without giving a clear definition of illegal.
Hegseth had moved to reduce Kelly’s Navy rank and retirement pay as a consequence. Leon issued the order in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., blocking the move.
“Today a federal court made clear Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said,” Kelly said in a post on X.
“This is a critical moment to show this administration they can’t keep undermining Americans’ rights. I also know this might not be over yet, because Trump and Hegseth can’t admit when they are wrong.”
Hegseth stated this isn’t the end for the War Department saying in an X post, “This will be immediately appealed. Sedition is sedition, ‘Captain.'”
President Donald Trump slammed the Democrat video as “seditious behaviors, punishable by death.” He called the Democrats “traitors.”
Leon’s opinion said Kelly had the First Amendment right to make the comments in the video.
Leon acknowledged, “Military service members enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces.”
Fred Lucas is chief news correspondent and manager of the Investigative Reporting Project for The Daily Signal. He is the author of “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.”
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