Mark Kelly Hits Defense Secretary Hegseth With Major Lawsuit |
Senator Mark Kelly has decided enough is enough with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and filed a lawsuit against him in federal court Monday.
Kelly sued Hegseth, the Defense Department, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, and the U.S. Department of the Navy over Hegseth’s attempts to punish the Arizona senator. Hegseth has censured Kelly and moved to reduce his retirement grade and military pension after he appeared in a video message in November with other former service members in Congress advising military personnel to refuse to follow illegal orders from the Trump administration.
In his lawsuit, Kelly alleges that Hegseth and the others violated his First Amendment and due process rights, claiming that the Trump administration’s actions “trample on protections the Constitution singles out as essential to legislative independence.”
“It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech. Allowing that unprecedented step here would invert the constitutional structure by subordinating the Legislative Branch to executive discipline and chilling congressional oversight of the armed forces,” the lawsuit states.
Kelly noted that after President Trump accused him of committing treason and sedition, Hegseth immediately echoed those accusations and moved to punish Kelly without due process.
“The Constitution does not permit the government to announce the verdict in advance and then subject Senator Kelly or anyone else to a nominal process designed only to fulfill it,” Kelly said in the lawsuit.
Hegseth is attempting to punish a sitting member of the Senate for criticizing the president, which already goes against the Constitution and separation of powers, something Kelly highlighted in his lawsuit.
Will this lawsuit force Hegseth and Trump to see how absurd it is to punish members of Congress for their speech? At the very least, it may well embarrass the White House in federal court.
This story has been updated.
At least two Republican senators plan to fight back after the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the weekend, vowing to block all of President Trump’s nominations to the central bank.
Senator Lisa Murkowski said Monday on X, “After speaking with Chair Powell this morning, it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion.
“If the Department of Justice believes an investigation into Chair Powell is warranted based on project cost overruns—which are not unusual—then Congress needs to investigate the Department of Justice. The stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer,” Murkowski added. “My colleague, Senator Tillis, is right in blocking any Federal Reserve nominees until this is resolved.”
Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee who will retire at the end of his term this year, has vowed to block all of the Trump administration’s Fed nominees until the Department of Justice backs off from its investigation into Powell and other Fed officials.
“It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question. I will oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed—including the upcoming Fed Chair vacancy—until this legal matter is fully resolved,” Tillis posted on X Sunday. The Senate Banking Committee has a narrow 13–11 advantage for Republicans, meaning that his opposition would stall any of Trump’s picks.
Powell sounded the alarm over the DOJ’s investigation into himself Sunday, saying that the independence of the financial body was at stake over “the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.” Now it seems that some Republicans agree. The question is whether Trump will back down or still try to strong-arm Powell and the Fed.
The Trump administration is giving its investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James another shot.
The president shared a New York Post report to his Truth Social page Sunday night, effectively affirming that federal prosecutors are working toward more potential charges against James.
This case seemingly accuses James of alleged campaign misconduct over a total of $36,000 that her campaign paid to Iyesata Marsh, her longtime hairdresser, between 2018 and 2019. Roughly $22,000 of the payments were intended as payment for James’s use of Marsh’s studio as a late-stage campaign office in the last quarter of the year, according to a 2019 Wall Street Journal report.
The New York Times reported that prosecutors sought to speak with Marsh about the payments after she herself was indicted and charged with bank fraud and identity theft regarding the purchase of a Land Rover several years ago.
New York’s top cop has become one of the president’s chief legal adversaries since Donald Trump’s bank fraud case, when James successfully proved Trump was guilty of lying to banks. He was ordered to cough up nearly half a billion dollars in 2024—but has yet to do so.
In April, the Trump administration launched an investigation into James’s personal finances, accusing the attorney general of lying on her bank statements in order to obtain better mortgage rates. At the time, Trump........