The FBI has requested interviews with six Democrat members of the US Congress who in a video message told members of the military they can legally refuse to carry out orders, a Justice Department official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The move comes a day after the Pentagon threatened to recall Senator Mark Kelly to active duty potentially to face military charges over what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described on social media as seditious acts.
President Donald Trump also accused the six Democrats of sedition and said in a social media post that the crime is punishable by death.
The Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the FBI interviews with the lawmakers were to determine, "if there's any wrongdoing, and then go from there." The FBI is headed by Trump appointee Kash Patel.
The lawmakers have said their video statements accurately reflected US law. American troops swear an oath to the US Constitution, not the president, and under military rules must follow "any lawful general order or regulation".
The video did not refer to any specific illegal order, but many Democrats have politicised the Trump administration's strikes on vessels carrying drug traffickers in Latin American waters.
There is no charge of sedition under US law for civilians, though the charge of "seditious conspiracy" carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.
For troops, the Uniform Code of Military Justice includes a section on sedition, with possible penalties including death.
(Reporting by Jana Winter; Additional reporting by David Morgan, Bo Erickson and Jasper Ward; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, Lisa Shumaker, Will Dunham and Daniel Wallis)
