Former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly sues Pentagon, Pete Hegseth over censure campaign

Mark Kelly isn't taking his punishment lying down.

Kelly — a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and NASA astronaut who currently serves as a U.S. Senator (D-Ariz.) — announced today (Jan. 12) that he's suing the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over their plan to censure him for statements he made in a video late last year.

"Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him— and this or any administration — accountable," Kelly said in an X post today. "His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted."

Mark Kelly is a former captain in the U.S. Navy who flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. In late November, he and five other Congressmen with military or intelligence backgrounds put together a 90-second video reminding U.S. servicemembers not to obey illegal orders.

President Donald Trump quickly condemned the video as seditious, and the Pentagon announced that it was investigating Kelly for potential misconduct.

Last week, Hegseth reported that the Department of Defense is taking "administrative action" against the former space shuttle astronaut.

"The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay," Hegseth wrote via X on Jan. 5. "To ensure this action, the Secretary of War has also issued a formal Letter of Censure, which outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly's reckless misconduct. This Censure is a necessary process step, and will be placed in Captain Kelly's official and permanent military personnel file."

(In September, President Trump issued an executive order rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War, but the former remains its official name.)

Kelly has defended himself against such accusations and actions at every step, and his newly filed lawsuit takes the fight to a new level.

"Every servicemember knows military rank is earned, not given. It's earned through the risks you take, the sacrifices you and your family make, the leadership you display, and the respect you earn from the superiors who recommend you for promotion," Kelly wrote in today's X post.

"Now, Pete Hegseth wants our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and pay years or even decades after they leave the military just because he or another Secretary of Defense doesn't like what they've said. That's not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won't stand for it," he added.

The lawsuit, which was filed today in Washington, D.C., argues that the censure letter, retirement grade determination process and related actions are "unlawful and unconstitutional" for a variety of reasons.

"The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech. That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy," it reads. "The Secretary's letter makes clear on its face that he is disciplining Senator Kelly solely for the content and viewpoint of his political speech."