Pete Hegseth, still cosplaying as the “Secretary of War,” which isn’t a real position, issued a statement Monday to report that the “Department of War,” which isn’t a real department, is taking “administrative action” against U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, who is a real retired U.S. Navy captain, in response to Kelly’s participation in an effort to urge military members to not follow any potentially illegal orders from the Trump administration.
You know, for example, bombing fishing boats, removing a country’s president.
“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline. As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice,” Hegseth said in a statement, in which he indicated that the “Department of War,” which, again, doesn’t exist, “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.”
ICYMI
Before we get to Kelly’s reaction to Hegseth, it’s worth noting that the “reckless and seditious” behavior singled out by Hegseth mirrors comments made by Hegseth himself.
Back in 2016, Hegseth said the military didn’t have to follow “unlawful orders from their commander-in-chief,” because “there’s a standard, there’s an ethos, there’s a belief that we are above so many things our enemies or others would do.”
But the president in 2016 was, you remember, it was Barack Obama.
Hegseth, in 2016, was a Fox News contributor.
He was confirmed as Secretary of Defense last January by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote, marking only the second time the VP needed to cast a tie-breaker to confirm a Cabinet nominee.
He’s been pretending to be the Secretary of War since the summer.
“Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution — including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that,” Kelly said in a statement on Monday, adding:
“My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head — all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder. Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.
“Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired service member that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.
“If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”
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Chris Graham
