Two senior Republican senators on Monday openly opposed Pentagon secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to punish their fellow Senator Mark Kelly by demoting him and cutting his pension after he released a video telling active-duty military to follow the law.
Susan Collins of Maine, who chairs the Senate appropriations committee with jurisdiction over the Pentagon’s budget, said she believed it was wrong to target Kelly’s military benefits because of a political video.
Thom Tillis of North Carolina also described the Pentagon’s censure as “ridiculous”, said that “Hegseth overreached” and cautioned that pursuing such action “has a chilling effect on speech”.
The pushback from the relatively moderate Collins and from Tillis – who announced last June he would be retiring from the Senate – was striking given the tepid response from most other Republican senators.
Hegseth said on Monday that his department had begun administrative action against Kelly, who served as a navy captain before entering the Senate. Last year Kelly and other Democrats released a video encouraging military personnel to refuse illegal orders. Writing on social media, Hegseth described it as a “reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline”.
The defense secretary announced a “retirement grade determination proceeding” alongside a formal censure letter, suggesting Kelly could see his rank reduced and pension slashed as punishment.
Kelly flew dozens of combat missions and travelled to space four times during his military and Nasa career.
Speaking to reporters, Collins said: “I don’t think that’s appropriate.” Tillis, meanwhile, called the original video from the Democrats “rage bait”, but added: “My gosh, he is a US senator who operates in a political world. I think it has a chilling effect on speech, and I’ve got a real problem with it. And I think Hegseth overreached.”
Other Republicans offered measured or non-committal responses. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who sits on the armed services committee, told reporters there would be “an adjudication process” that he said should be allowed to proceed without comment. Asked whether such proceedings made sense given Kelly’s Senate role and committee assignment, Rounds replied: “I think we’ll let the process play out.”
Some senators sidestepped the question altogether. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, another armed services committee member, said she lacked sufficient information to respond. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia characterized it as an issue “between the Department of War and Sen Kelly”.
Kelly issued a combative statement on Monday, saying the censure was “outrageous” and “un-American”. He wrote: “If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified secretary of defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it.”
He added: “Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”
