The U.S. Navy has delivered its report on possible punishment for Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., over a video urging troops to refuse "illegal orders," escalating a high-stakes clash between President Donald Trump's Pentagon and the group of Democrats his allies branded as the "Seditious Six."
The report, ordered by War Secretary Pete Hegseth and completed by the Navy, has been sent to the Pentagon's Office of General Counsel for legal review, officials said.
Sen. Kelly is a retired Navy captain, making him uniquely vulnerable to discipline under the Uniform Code of Military Justice even while serving in the Senate.
Kelly appeared in a 90-second video with Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., telling troops and intelligence officers they can and must refuse unlawful orders.
The lawmakers did not specify which Trump administration orders they believed might be illegal, a gap critics say invites confusion inside the ranks.
Trump responded by accusing the six of "seditious behavior, punishable by death" and calling for their arrest, an escalation that drew global attention to the case and sharpened conservative concerns about elected officials appearing to undercut the commander in chief, The Associated Press reported.
Hegseth quickly ordered the Navy to investigate Kelly's conduct, set a Dec. 10 deadline for a report, and publicly labeled the group the "Seditious Six," warning that their message "erodes cohesion."
In a post on X, he said five of the six are outside Pentagon jurisdiction but stressed that Kelly, as a retired officer, "is still subject to UCMJ, and he knows that."
Possible outcomes range from no action to a formal reprimand or the extraordinary step of recalling Kelly to active duty for court-martial, according to Reuters.
The Pentagon has not said when the legal review will conclude.
Kelly has accused the administration of trying to silence dissent.
"I've given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution," he said, adding that the probe "won't work."
A group of Senate Democrats on the Armed Services and Judiciary committees has sent letters to Navy Secretary John Phelan and the FBI condemning the review as "baseless and patently political."
Conservatives counter that the video crossed a bright line by inserting partisan messaging directly into questions of obedience and discipline.
"The military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders. It does not need political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command," Hegseth said in a statement echoed in coverage by ABC News and other outlets.
Commentators like ESPN host Stephen A. Smith have also argued that a retired Navy officer telling troops on camera to ignore commands sends a dangerous signal, regardless of the legal caveats.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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