Jan. 5 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Department of Defense is reducing the retirement pay of Sen. Mark Kelly over critical comments he made last year.
Hegseth posted on social media that the department has initiated administrative action against Kelly and issued a letter of censure to the Arizona senator. He alleges that a video in which Kelly called on servicemembers to refuse illegal orders was “seditious.”
“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth said. “As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice.”
Hegseth added that the actions taken against Kelly are in response to the video as well as public statements he made from June through December that were critical of “lawful military operations,” saying these statements were “seditious in nature.”
Kelly has 30 days to respond to the retirement grade determination proceedings and the process will be completed within 45 days, Hegseth said.
Other former intelligence officials and servicemembers in Congress who appeared in the video in question include Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., and Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-Pa.
The other congresspeople who appeared alongside Kelly in the video have separated from their branches of service, while Kelly retired from his, leaving him subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“Our laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly said in the video.
Kelly, who served 24 years in the U.S. Navy, said during the Department of Defense’s investigation into his comments that it is an attempt to intimidate him and other members of Congress.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posted on social media Monday that Hegseth’s actions against Kelly are an act of “political retribution.”
“I stand with Sen. Kelly, who will always do the right thing no matter the consequences,” Schumer wrote.
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