A federal judge has blocked an attempt by the US defence secretary to punish a retired naval officer and senator for speaking out, delivering a sharp rebuke to efforts to narrow constitutional protections for veterans.

A federal judge delivered a scathing ruling against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to punish a Democratic US senator for warning members of the military against following unlawful orders.

US District Judge Richard Leon on Thursday  granted a preliminary injunction that at least temporarily blocked Hegseth from punishing Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired US Navy captain who was one of several Democratic lawmakers to take part in a  video that advised military service members that they had a duty to disobey President Donald Trump if he gave them unlawful orders.

In his ruling, Leon eviscerated Hegseth’s efforts to reduce Kelly’s retirement rank and pay simply for exercising his First Amendment rights.

While Leon acknowledged that active US service members do have certain restrictions on their freedom of speech, he said that these restrictions have never been applied to retired members of the US armed services.

“This court has all it needs to conclude that defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” wrote Leon. “To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their government, and our constitution demands they receive it!”

The judge said he would be granting Kelly’s request for an injunction because claims that his First Amendment rights were being violated were “likely to succeed on the merits,” further noting that the senator has shown “irreparable harm” being done by Hegseth’s efforts to censure him.

Leon concluded his ruling by imploring Hegseth to stop “trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired service members,” and instead “reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired service members have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our nation over the past 250 years.”

Shortly after Leon’s ruling, Kelly posted a video on social media in which he highlighted the threats posed by the Trump administration’s efforts to silence dissent.

“Today, a federal court made clear that Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said,” Kelly remarked.

“But this case was never just about me. This administration was sending a message to millions of retired veterans that they too can be censured or demoted just for speaking out. That’s why I couldn’t let this stand.”

Kelly went on to accuse the Trump administration of “cracking down on our rights and trying to make examples out of everyone they can.”

Leon’s ruling came less than two days after it was  reported that Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host who is now serving as US attorney for the District of Columbia, tried to get Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers criminally indicted on undisclosed charges before getting rejected by a DC grand jury.

According to a Wednesday  report from NBC News, none of the grand jurors who heard evidence against the Democrats believed prosecutors had done enough to establish probable cause that the Democrats had committed a crime, leading to a rare unanimous rejection of an attempted federal prosecution.

Republished from Common Dreams, 12 February 2026