A federal judge handed Pete Hegseth one of the most stinging courtroom rebukes of his tenure, ruling the Pentagon chief had 'trampled' on a sitting senator's constitutional rights in an unprecedented attempt to punish a military retiree for political speech.
The ruling, issued 12 February 2026 by US District Judge Richard Leon, came after Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona sued Hegseth on 12 January 2026 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, charging that the defence secretary's effort to censure him and reduce his military retirement rank and pay was 'unlawful and unconstitutional.'
