❓WHAT HAPPENED: A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in a lawsuit brought by Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) over alleged retaliation for political speech stemming from Kelly’s appearance in a video alongside other Democrat lawmakers, where they encouraged military service members to reject “illegal orders.”
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Sen. Mark Kelly, Sec. Pete Hegseth, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, and federal prosecutors.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The injunction was issued on February 12, 2026, in Washington, D.C., following Kelly’s January lawsuit.
💬KEY QUOTE: “This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms,” wrote Judge Richard Leon.
🎯IMPACT: The ruling prevents immediate action by the Department of War against Kelly while the case proceeds.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has granted a preliminary injunction against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in a lawsuit filed by Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who accused the Secretary of retaliating against him for political speech. Kelly, a former Navy Captain and current Arizona Democrat lawmaker, filed the lawsuit in January after Hegseth moved to censure him under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for appearing in a video encouraging U.S. service members to refuse “illegal orders.”
“Our rules are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly stated in the video, which featured several Democratic lawmakers and was released amid U.S. military strikes against drug traffickers in the Caribbean. Hegseth called Kelly’s remarks “seditious” and initiated a review of his retirement grade, which could lead to a reduction in rank and retirement pay.
Kelly’s legal team argued that Hegseth’s actions were unconstitutional. “The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” the lawsuit stated. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, a Bush appointee, agreed, writing that the defendants had “trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.”
Notably, retired U.S. military service members are—in most cases—still subject to the UCMJ. The Department of War has consistently argued that Judge Leon lacks jurisdiction to hear the case, as Sen. Kelly has not exhausted his avenues of appeal within the military.
The video, released last November, drew sharp criticism from President Donald J. Trump, who labeled it “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” in a post on Truth Social. President Trump also called for the arrest and trial of the lawmakers involved, all of whom have military or intelligence backgrounds. The National Pulse reported on Wednesday that federal prosecutors sought to charge the lawmakers, but a grand jury in Washington, D.C., declined to indict them.
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