Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has backed down from previous threats to court-martial retired Navy captain Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, for his role in a video telling service members they "can refuse illegal orders."
Hegseth instead issued a formal censure to Kelly, the defense secretary announced on X, and has initiated proceedings aiming to demote Kelly in retirement. If demoted, the Arizona senator's military pension would be reduced.
But demoting Kelly requires an administrative process known as officer grade determination, which by law makes its decisions based on an officer's conduct while on active duty. It's not clear how the Navy can legally consider Kelly's post-retirement conduct when making its determination.
According to federal law and Navy regulations, Navy Secretary John Phelan decides the retired rank of officers below the grade of vice admiral. In most cases, an administrative board reviews an officer's conduct before making a recommendation to Phelan.
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