Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., at left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Reuters
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily enjoined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from officially censuring Sen. Mark Kelly over that Arizona Democrat’s participation in a video reminding American military service members they have a right to refuse illegal orders.
Judge Rich Leon’s order in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., also blocks Hegseth, for now, from reducing Kelly’s U.S. Navy rank and pay, as punishment for his role in the video.
Kelly retired from the Navy as a captain.
The order came two days after news broke that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for DC had tried, and failed, to get a federal grand jury to indict Kelly and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., on criminal charges related to their participation in the video released with four other members of Congress in November.
Leon, in a scathing opinion explaining his order, noted that Hegseth, in seeking to punish Kelly for his public statements as a member of Congress, relied “on the well-established doctrine that military service members enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces.”
“Unfortunately for Secretary Hegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired servicemembers, much less a retired servicemember serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the military,” Leon wrote.
“This Court will not be the first to do so!”
Leon also smacked aside Hegseth’s argument that a federal district court judge “is not yet competent” to decide the legal issues in Kelly’s lawsuit to block his censure.
Hegseth and the other defendants had argued that decisions about military personnel are “exempt from judicial review,” and that Kelly should be required to first go through a military appeals process to challenge his punishment, the judge noted.
“I disagree,” Leon wrote.
“This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” the judge wrote. “After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, ‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’ “
“To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!” Leon said.
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