By Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked the Pentagon from reducing Senator Mark Kelly’s retired military rank and pension pay because he urged troops to reject unlawful orders.
The preliminary ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington is the latest setback in court for President Donald Trump’s historic campaign of vengeance against his perceived political enemies, which has drawn push back from judges across the ideological spectrum.
Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut who represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate, was one of six congressional Democrats who appeared in a November video that reminded service members of their duty to reject unlawful orders. In the clip, Kelly stated: “Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders.”
Kelly’s remarks came as more Democrats were criticizing Trump’s decisions to deploy the National Guard in U.S. cities and authorize lethal strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs from Latin America.
The Republican president, in a social media post, called the video “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a censure letter on January 5, asserting that Kelly had “clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline” in violation of military rules that apply to both active and retired personnel.
Trump administration lawyers had urged the judge to dismiss Kelly’s lawsuit, calling it a “quintessential matter of military discipline not within the Judiciary’s purview” in a recent court filing.
The Trump administration has also called the lawsuit premature, saying Kelly has not yet been formally censured and should have responded to Hegseth’s allegations through administrative channels.
(Reporting By Jan Wolfe; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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