Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon is taking administrative action against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) that could reduce the retired Navy captain’s rank and military pension.

The move against a sitting U.S. senator comes after a video in which Kelly, alongside five other Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds, reminded service members of their legal obligation to refuse illegal orders, a foundational principle of military law, in November.

“We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now,” the lawmakers said in the video. “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.”

The message came amid escalating concerns about the legality of Trump administration military operations, particularly deadly strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that have killed at least 115 people since September. Critics have questioned whether these operations, along with the recent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, constitute lawful military actions.

President Donald Trump responded swiftly and forcefully to the video, posting on Truth Social that the lawmakers engaged in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” and calling them “traitors” who should be “ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.” In one post, Trump wrote the behavior was “punishable by DEATH.”

In a detailed post on X Monday, Hegseth announced that the Department of Defense has “initiated retirement grade determination proceedings” under federal law that could result in Kelly being demoted from his retired rank of Navy captain. Such a reduction would correspondingly decrease his military retirement pay.​

“In response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements—and his pattern of reckless misconduct—the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret),” Hegseth wrote.

Hegseth also issued a formal letter of censure that will be placed in Kelly’s permanent military personnel file. The censure document, according to Hegseth, “outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly’s reckless misconduct.”​

The proceedings are based on Kelly’s “public statements from June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders,” Hegseth stated. He alleged this conduct “was seditious in nature and violated Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

Kelly has 30 days to submit a response, and the retirement grade determination process must be completed within 45 days.​

Hegseth’s announcement stops short of the court-martial threat the Pentagon made in November, when it suggested Kelly could be recalled to active duty to face military prosecution.

Kelly responded to Hegseth’s announcement in a statement on X, “Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.

“My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder. Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.

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

“If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”