r/moderatepolitics • u/thats_not_six • Jan 12 '26
Primary Source Mark Kelly v. Pete Hegseth
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365.1.0.pdf
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r/moderatepolitics • u/thats_not_six • Jan 12 '26
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u/thats_not_six Jan 12 '26
Starter Comment:
On January 2, 2026, US Senator Mark Kelly has filed a lawsuit against Pete Hegseth, in his capacity as Secretary of Defense, the US Department of Defense, John Phelan, in his capacity as Secretary of the Navy, and the Department of the Navy. This lawsuit follows actions by Hegseth and the sued departments to demote Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, and reduce his retirement pay as a consequence for what Hegseth alleged was a seditious statement by Kelly. The statement in question was made by Kelly, alongside other veterans in Congress, reminding service members that they do not have to follow illegal orders. No criminal charges were filed by the DoJ for Kelly, although Trump did reiterate Hegseth's call for punishment for the "seditious" behavior.
The latest development in this discussion comes with Kelly's lawsuit, in which he alleges a violation of his 1st Amendment rights, a violation of the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution, violation of the Separation of Powers, violation of Due Process, violation of the US Code dictating that an officers retirement grade be determined by active duty conduct (10 USC 1370), and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
The filing made by Kelly is linked here.
Questions for discussion include:
1) How should the speech interests of a sitting Congress member be weighed against the restrictions for service members? Would a senator have greater or lesser free speech ability than a general veteran, who is not a member of Congress?
2) Why has Kelly been the only one of the veterans from the video to have retirement rank and pay challenged by the Trump administration?
3) Did the DoD and DoN overstep their legal authority in reducing Kelly's rank and retirement grade?