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Mark Kelly Fires Back After Pentagon Moves to Cut His Retirement Pay

Sen. Mark Kelly says he will fight “with everything I’ve got” after the Pentagon moves to cut his military retirement pay.

By Tracey Ashlee

Sen. Mark Kelly says he is not backing down.

In a lengthy post on X, the retired Navy captain and Arizona Democrat said he would “fight this with everything I’ve got” after the Pentagon moved to cut his military retirement pay and formally censured him over a video urging service members to refuse illegal orders.

“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,” Kelly wrote, adding that he never expected “the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that,” according to his post on X.

Kelly said his rank and retirement were earned through years of service, missed holidays, and combat deployments, including commanding a space shuttle mission while his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, recovered from a gunshot wound. “Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country,” he wrote.

The response came hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon had initiated proceedings to reduce Kelly’s retired grade, which would result in a corresponding reduction in his retirement pay, according to CNBC and CNN.

Hegseth also issued a formal letter of censure, calling Kelly’s statements in the video “seditious” and accusing him of a pattern of misconduct. In a post on X, Hegseth said the Defense Department had launched retirement grade determination proceedings under federal law, a process that allows the military to reassess an officer’s rank upon retirement.

The controversy centers on a November video featuring Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds. In the video, the group warned that “threats to our Constitution” could come “from right here at home” and urged service members to refuse illegal orders. The video did not specify which orders might be illegal.

In his letter of censure, obtained by CNN, Hegseth wrote that Kelly’s conduct demonstrated “specific intent to counsel servicemembers to refuse lawful orders,” and warned that further similar actions could expose him to criminal prosecution or additional administrative punishment.

“When viewed in totality, your pattern of conduct demonstrates specific intent,” Hegseth wrote. “Your conduct has had, and continues to have, a detrimental impact on military discipline and good order.”

Kelly rejected that characterization outright. In his X post, he said Hegseth was trying to send a message to retired service members that speaking out would come at a cost. “There is nothing more un-American than that,” Kelly wrote. “Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.”

The Pentagon’s action stops short of a court-martial, which would have placed Kelly before a military tribunal. Instead, Kelly has 30 days to respond to the proposed action, with the process expected to conclude within 45 days, according to Hegseth’s statement cited by CNN.

Some Republicans have raised concerns about the move. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker of Mississippi told CNN last month that it was not appropriate for the military to punish Kelly, shaking his head when asked directly whether the Pentagon should proceed.

The investigation into Kelly began in November after the Defense Department said it received “serious allegations of misconduct.” Kelly has previously dismissed the probe as baseless. He served in the Navy for more than two decades, flying combat missions and later working as a test pilot and instructor before retiring in 2011.

For now, Kelly says the fight is about more than his own rank or pension. “If [he]... thinks he can intimidate me,” Kelly wrote, “he still doesn’t get it.”

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