The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall US Senator Mark Kelly, a retired navy captain, to active duty status in order to prosecute him after what it described as seditious behavior by the former astronaut and veteran.
Kelly, who denies any wrongdoing and who said in a statement he would not be intimidated, joined five other Democrats in Congress with backgrounds in the US military and intelligence community to urge US troops to refuse certain orders, a possible act of treason.
Kelly's November 18 video message came amid heightened concerns among Democrats, echoed privately by some US military officials, that the Trump administration is violating the law by ordering the US military to kill drug traffickers in strikes on their vessels in Latin American waters.
The Pentagon says those strikes are justified because the drug smugglers are considered terrorists.
The Pentagon statement said it was reviewing "serious allegations of misconduct" against Kelly. While it did not say what charges Kelly could face, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted remarks on social media accusing Kelly and the other lawmakers of sedition.
"The video made by the 'Seditious Six' was despicable, reckless, and false," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.
"Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their commanders undermines every aspect of 'good order and discipline'."
President Donald Trump has also accused Kelly and the other Democrats of sedition, saying in a social media post that the crime was punishable by death.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, sedition and mutiny are among the most serious offenses and can be punishable by death.
Kelly, in a statement, said he learned of the threat from Hegseth's social media post.
"If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work," Kelly said.
"I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the constitution."
The threat to prosecute Kelly follows a purge at the Pentagon of DEI senior members of the US military, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the navy and the director of the National Security Agency.
Rachel van Landingham, a former air force lawyer now at Southwestern Law School, said she had never seen sitting lawmakers called back to the military involuntarily, and that Kelly would have a strong legal case to get a preliminary injunction since there was no evidence of probable cause.
"He has strong legal standing to say 'Absolutely not. I'm not going to do this'," van Landingham said.
Hegseth's remarks also could undermine any Pentagon effort to prosecute Kelly since they amounted to a clear case of undue command influence and could be used as evidence that Kelly would not be able to get a fair trial, she said.
The Pentagon cautioned that all retired service members could be subject to recall.
"All servicemembers are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful. A servicemember's personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order," the Pentagon said.
The White House supports the Pentagon investigation of Kelly, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Alistair Bell and Bill Berkrot)
