Judge blocks Pentagon from downgrading Sen. Mark Kelly's military rank, pay
CBSN
A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Pentagon from downgrading the military retirement rank and pay of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, finding that the government had "trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms." Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Pentagon from downgrading the military retirement rank and pay of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, finding that the government had "trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms."
A retired Navy captain, Kelly drew the Trump administration's ire after he and five other Democratic lawmakers posted a video urging members of the military to "refuse illegal orders."
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon's order prohibits the Defense Department and the Trump administration from taking any adverse action against Kelly to reduce his retirement rank and pay.
"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," Leon wrote. "After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, 'You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.'"
Leon's ruling comes a month after Kelly sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, arguing that he was the target of "extreme rhetoric and punitive retribution" by the Trump administration.
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