Mark Kelly, a Democrat, is an American citizen and the senior U.S. senator representing Arizona. He serves on the Senate's Armed Services Committee and Select Committee on Intelligence. But according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Kelly's status as a retired Navy captain constrains what he is allowed to say in those other capacities. Hegseth thinks he has the authority to punish Kelly, a legislator whose job includes oversight of Hegseth's department, for criticizing his leadership of the Pentagon and the Trump administration's military policies.
In February, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, rejected that astonishing claim, deeming it inconsistent with the First Amendment. Leon issued a preliminary injunction that barred Hegseth from "giving effect" to a letter of censure that faulted Kelly for saying things that irked Hegseth and from penalizing Kelly by reducing his retirement grade and pension. Now Hegseth is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to override that injunction, reiterating his argument that retired military officers are subject to punishment, potentially including criminal prosecution, for political speech that he unilaterally deems "prejudicial to good order and discipline in the armed forces."
