Pentagon cuts Sen. Mark Kelly’s military retirement pay as punishment over ‘illegal orders’ video

S

signalmankenneth

Verified User
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon is taking administrative action to punish Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, by cutting his retirement pay for participating in a video where he and other Democratic lawmakers reminded US service members of their duty to refuse illegal orders.

Hegseth said in a post on X that the US military will reduce the amount of retirement pay Kelly receives and has issued a secretarial letter of censure, which would stand as a written reprimand but have no practical consequences for the Arizona Democrat.

“In response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret),” Hegseth posted on X. “The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”

CNN has reached out to Kelly for comment.

Behind closed doors, Hegseth has been weighing his options to punish Kelly for participating in the video, ranging from reducing the retired US Navy captain’s rank and pension to prosecuting him under military law, CNN has reported.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/pentagon-cuts-mark-kellys-retirement-pay-punishment

1767629501048.png
 
signalmankenneth said:
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon is taking administrative action to punish Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, by cutting his retirement pay for participating in a video where he and other Democratic lawmakers reminded US service members of their duty to refuse illegal orders.

Hegseth said in a post on X that the US military will reduce the amount of retirement pay Kelly receives and has issued a secretarial letter of censure, which would stand as a written reprimand but have no practical consequences for the Arizona Democrat.

“In response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret),” Hegseth posted on X. “The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”

CNN has reached out to Kelly for comment.

Behind closed doors, Hegseth has been weighing his options to punish Kelly for participating in the video, ranging from reducing the retired US Navy captain’s rank and pension to prosecuting him under military law, CNN has reported.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/pentagon-cuts-mark-kellys-retirement-pay-punishment

View attachment 69911
Click to expand...
FAFO
Fuck you asshole. You supported the assassination of your president so, fuck you!
 
Hegseth said in a post on X that the US military has initiated proceedings to reduce the amount of retirement pay Kelly receives and has issued a secretarial letter of censure, which would stand as a written reprimand but have no practical consequences for the Arizona Democrat.

“In response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret),” Hegseth posted on X. “The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”

Kelly responded later Monday morning, saying he wouldn’t be intimidated and intended to fight the action.(y)

“If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government,” he said in a post on X.(y)

Behind closed doors, Hegseth has been weighing his options to punish Kelly for participating in the video, ranging from reducing the retired US Navy captain’s rank and pension to prosecuting him under military law, CNN has reported.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/pentagon-cuts-mark-kellys-retirement-pay-punishment

Sedition:
  1. Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state.
  2. Insurrection; rebellion.
  3. The raising of commotion in a state, not amounting to insurrection; conduct tending to treason, but without an overt act; excitement of discontent against the government, or of resistance to lawful authority.
Did Senator Kelly do this? Sounds more like the Jan 6th criminals to me?!!
 
Last edited:
signalmankenneth said:
Hegseth said in a post on X that the US military has initiated proceedings to reduce the amount of retirement pay Kelly receives and has issued a secretarial letter of censure, which would stand as a written reprimand but have no practical consequences for the Arizona Democrat.

“In response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret),” Hegseth posted on X. “The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”

Kelly responded later Monday morning, saying he wouldn’t be intimidated and intended to fight the action.(y)

“If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government,” he said in a post on X.(y)

Behind closed doors, Hegseth has been weighing his options to punish Kelly for participating in the video, ranging from reducing the retired US Navy captain’s rank and pension to prosecuting him under military law, CNN has reported.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/pentagon-cuts-mark-kellys-retirement-pay-punishment
Sedition:
  1. Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state.
  2. Insurrection; rebellion.
  3. The raising of commotion in a state, not amounting to insurrection; conduct tending to treason, but without an overt act; excitement of discontent against the government, or of resistance to lawful authority.
Did Senator Kelly do this? Sounds more like the Jan 6th criminals to me?!!
Click to expand...
Fuck you asshole. You supported the assassination of your president so, fuck you!
 
Interesting.

“4 out of 5 US troops wouldn’t follow an order they see as illegal”​

This is a separate poll focused on active‑duty troops’ own attitudes.It shows:

  • 80% of troops say they would disobey an order they believe is illegal.
This doesn’t measure their reaction to Mark Kelly’s message, but it does show that the military community already has a strong internal norm about refusing unlawful orders.

www.masslive.com/politics/2025/08/id-disobey-4-out-of-5-us-troops-wouldnt-follow-order-they-see-as-illegal-poll-finds.html?utm_source=copilot.com
 
Jake Starkey said:
Interesting.

“4 out of 5 US troops wouldn’t follow an order they see as illegal”​

This is a separate poll focused on active‑duty troops’ own attitudes.It shows:

  • 80% of troops say they would disobey an order they believe is illegal.
This doesn’t measure their reaction to Mark Kelly’s message, but it does show that the military community already has a strong internal norm about refusing unlawful orders.

www.masslive.com/politics/2025/08/id-disobey-4-out-of-5-us-troops-wouldnt-follow-order-they-see-as-illegal-poll-finds.html?utm_source=copilot.com
Click to expand...
This is nothing new. They know what that means. Politicians not so much.
 
That is no answer. Kelly will not be reduced to a LtSG's rank for retirement.

I can tell you right now the DOD JAG (a major general) will tell DUI Pete, "No, you have no authority to do this."
 
signalmankenneth said:
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Monday that the Pentagon is taking administrative action to punish Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, by cutting his retirement pay for participating in a video where he and other Democratic lawmakers reminded US service members of their duty to refuse illegal orders.

Hegseth said in a post on X that the US military will reduce the amount of retirement pay Kelly receives and has issued a secretarial letter of censure, which would stand as a written reprimand but have no practical consequences for the Arizona Democrat.

“In response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret),” Hegseth posted on X. “The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.”

CNN has reached out to Kelly for comment.

Behind closed doors, Hegseth has been weighing his options to punish Kelly for participating in the video, ranging from reducing the retired US Navy captain’s rank and pension to prosecuting him under military law, CNN has reported.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/pentagon-cuts-mark-kellys-retirement-pay-punishment

View attachment 69911
Click to expand...
What a spiteful, vengeful piece of shit. :mad:
 
Sailor said:
Sad such an accomplished man had to give in to partisan politics.
Click to expand...
In a way, I hate to say this, but Kelly was little more than the commensurate 'corporate hack.' That is, he did everything in his career by the corporate guidelines, never taking a chance, never doing anything truly meaningful. He did his job "by the book." That's not to belittle him or make some sneering insult. It's a realistic assessment of his career.

He wasn't, and isn't, some mover and shaker that will ever make a real difference. Instead, he's the steady corporate man who can be relied on by the corporation to do what's best for the corporation. In the Senate, he votes reliably with his party. I'm not making so much a judgement about how he does things so much as simply noting them.

Kelly is not a Hyman Rickover, Arleigh Burke, or Farragut. That's why he retired as a Captain.

Pay attention more and you'll see it too.
 
"Four generations of my family have served our country. Service is in my blood. The President wouldn’t know anything about that," the Democrat wrote on X."
 
Jake Starkey said:
T. A. he was a military man.

They are a corporate group: by the policy, follow the leadership.
Click to expand...
Yes, but it is often--not always but often--the iconoclasts, those that think and act outside the corporate box that really make the big, positive changes in military action. That goes as much for support activities as it does for the pointy end of things.

The guys that spend their career never making a mistake, never taking a chance, always doing everything by the book are great in peacetime and in positions where they don't have to lead the corporate body. The second they are faced with a crisis or put in a position where they have to make hard decisions without corporate guidance, they crumble. That's Kelly.

He did the missions he was assigned the way they were assigned. He's a great corporate hack. But now, as a Senator, he's in one of those positions were he's supposed to make a difference and make decisions outside the box sometimes. He's totally incapable of that. He does what the party wants.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top