Defense secretary seeks to downgrade Sen. Mark Kelly’s retired Navy rank and pay

People reports that on Jan. 5 Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he intends to downgrade Sen. Mark Kelly’s military retirement rank and reduce his retired pay, taking administrative action in response to a November video in which Kelly and five other Democrats urged service members to refuse illegal orders.

Hegseth posted on X calling the November clip a “reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline.” He wrote that the Defense Department had “initiated retirement grade determination proceedings,” which would reduce Kelly’s retired grade and corresponding retired pay, and that the secretary had “issued a formal Letter of Censure” to be placed in Kelly’s permanent military personnel file.

The video followed U.S. airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in September 2025; those strikes were not authorized by Congress and their legality has been debated.

Key Topics

Politics, Pete Hegseth, Mark Kelly, Retirement Grade Determination, U.s. Military, Ucmj