Defending his supposed authority to punish a member of Congress for criticizing him, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argues that retired military officers like Sen. Mark Kelly (D–Ariz.) are subject to speech restrictions because of their continuing connection to the armed forces. Hegseth relies mainly on the Supreme Court's 1974 decision in Parker v. Levy, which involved an active-duty U.S. Army captain who urged soldiers to defy deployment orders during the Vietnam War.
That precedent is clearly inapposite, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) argues in a brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to uphold a preliminary injunction that bars Hegseth from taking disciplinary action against Kelly. Extending the speech restrictions upheld in Parker to military retirees, FIRE warns in Kelly v. Hegseth, would create a new, status-based exception to the First Amendment that would have a chilling effect on political debate and invite censorship of other former government employees.
