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Pentagon appeals order blocking Sen. Mark Kelly’s punishment for call to resist unlawful orders

The Pentagon and Department of Justice appealed a ruling that blocked demotion and pay cuts for Sen. Mark Kelly after he urged troops to refuse illegal orders.

  • On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to revive efforts to demote Sen. Mark Kelly and cut his military retirement pay.
  • After the video, the Pentagon moved to censure Kelly on Jan. 5 and opened a review after Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers urged troops to refuse illegal orders.
  • Judge Richard Leon wrote in a Feb. 12 ruling that courts have not extended restrictions to retired servicemembers and found Kelly likely to succeed and to demonstrate irreparable harm.
  • Kelly responded that the appeal aims to silence retirees and vowed to continue fighting in a higher court after DOJ and the grand jury failed to indict him.
  • Hegseth argues the effort rests on doctrine limiting servicemembers' speech, relying on diminished First Amendment rights and the Pentagon's probe launched soon after the video's release.
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frontpageindex.com broke the news in on Monday, February 23, 2026.
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