A federal jury has refused to indict several Democratic lawmakers over a video that urged active-duty troops to refuse illegal orders, marking a legal setback for President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to The New York Times, federal prosecutors at the Justice Department sought criminal charges against the lawmakers after they released a video last November. The video was intended to remind members of the military that they are not required to follow unlawful commands.
Based on the contents of the video, the grand jury declined to move forward with an indictment. Although federal prosecutors argued that the Democrats may have violated the law prohibiting interference with the loyalty and discipline of the U.S. armed forces, the grand jury, after reviewing the evidence, did not find that an indictment was warranted.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025
The lawmakers involved in the video are Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Penn.), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.).
They all have military or national security backgrounds and said their message was meant to reinforce long-standing military principles. In the video, they stressed that service members swear an oath to the Constitution, not to an individual leader.
The lawmakers reminded troops that refusing an illegal order is a right protected under military law. The overall message was framed as educational and rooted in existing rules that govern conduct in the armed forces.
Now that the grand jury has refused to move forward with the administration’s prosecution efforts, President Donald Trump took matters into his own hands. The president sharply criticized the lawmakers in a Truth Social post and in public comments, describing their actions as “seditious behavior”.
After Trump’s post, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took action against one of the lawmakers, Sen. Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy veteran. He reportedly opened a Defense Department investigation into Kelly and threatened to demote his military rank.
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…
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) January 5, 2026
Following these posts and the Trump administration’s effort to penalize the Democrats, Senator Kelly responded strongly on his X account. Addressing the attempt to charge him and his colleagues, Kelly called the situation an “outrageous abuse of power”.
“It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime — all because of something I said that they didn’t like. That’s not the way things work in America.” Kelly wrote.
This is an outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies. It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime — all because of something I said that they didn’t like. That’s not the way… https://t.co/sXFN3j5Oww
— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) February 11, 2026
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time the grand jury has declined to support charges pursued by the Trump administration against their political opponents. Previously, in December 2025, a grand jury refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, after a judge dismissed an earlier case against her.
