Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain and Democrat from Arizona, has initiated a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming “unlawful and unconstitutional” retaliation. This legal action follows public criticisms from President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who labeled Kelly as a traitor to the military. Their comments came after Kelly, alongside other Democrats, opposed a series of fatal naval strikes targeting alleged drug traffickers in international waters. Kelly contends that these actions could unfairly impact his retirement benefits.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, lists Hegseth, the Pentagon, the Navy, and Navy Secretary John Phelan as defendants. Kelly is seeking a judicial declaration that the administration’s actions violated his First Amendment rights and the Speech or Debate Clause. The lawsuit challenges the administration’s response to Kelly’s assertion that military personnel should refuse illegal orders.

Back in mid-November, Kelly, along with five other Democratic lawmakers, participated in a video message directed at members of the military and intelligence communities. During the message, Kelly emphasized that military laws clearly allow service members to refuse illegal orders.

The lawsuit argues that Kelly’s statement reflects a fundamental legal principle under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). According to the UCMJ, service members are subject to court-martial if they disobey lawful orders or regulations. However, the rules also specify that obeying orders is not a defense if the orders are known to be unlawful or are evidently illegal, such as those involving criminal acts.

The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.

Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r

— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025

Kelly’s suit stated that the senator was articulating a “plain statement of blackletter law” under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

“The UCMJ subjects service members to courts-martial if they ‘violate[] or fail[] to obey any lawful general order or regulation.’ The Rules for Courts-Martial therefore provide: ‘It is a defense to any offense that the accused was acting pursuant to orders unless the accused knew the orders to be unlawful or a person of ordinary sense and understanding would have known the orders to be unlawful,’” the lawsuit said. “The UCMJ underscores that, although orders from superior officers are presumed lawful, ‘[t]his inference does not apply to a patently illegal order, such as one that directs the commission of a crime.’”

Despite this, the lawsuit went on, Trump and Hegseth “branded” Kelly as a traitor to the nation he served over 25 years “in multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions during the First Gulf War as a naval aviator, and four space shuttle flights at NASA, including commanding the final flight of Endeavour.”

First Trump responded on Truth Social by saying on Nov. 20 of the Democrats in the video, “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”

Then the president in follow-up posts added, “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” and “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

After Kelly responded by calling those remarks “dangerous,” noting that his wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords survived a gunshot to the head and an “act of political violence” in 2011, the president again posted that the “TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW[.]”

Kelly’s suit, claiming he received “numerous death threats” in the aftermath of the president’s words, recounted that Hegseth then responded by calling him a part of the “Seditious Six” and opened an investigation into “serious allegations of misconduct” threatening “further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures.”

One week ago, the complaint went on, Hegseth stated in a “Secretarial Letter of Censure” that Kelly “undermined the chain of command,” “counseled disobedience,” and engaged in “conduct unbecoming an officer,” actions that could lead to a reduction in his retirement rank and pay grade 15 years after Kelly’s retirement.

These actions, and the additional threat of “criminal prosecution or further administrative action” if Kelly similarly speaks out again, “trample on protections the Constitution singles out as essential to legislative independence” and “raise serious constitutional concerns […] subject[ing] all of the nation’s retired veterans to an ever-present threat against their retirement,” the suit said, seeking permanent injunctive relief.

“The Constitution does not leave such injuries to be remedied after the fact. Speech or Debate, First Amendment, separation-of-powers, and due-process protections must be vindicated at the outset, before the Senator is forced to submit to an unconstitutional and legally baseless proceeding,” the lawsuit concluded.

Read the full complaint here.