The FBI and Department of Justice have taken the step of contacting Capitol Police to schedule interviews with six members of Congress, who are under investigation for their involvement in a controversial video. This video, released by a group of Democratic legislators, encourages military personnel to refuse orders they may consider illegal. The group, which includes high-profile individuals such as Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Rep. Jason Crow, released the video with the message that ‘Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.’ This has led to significant public and political backlash, with President Donald Trump condemning the lawmakers for seditious behavior and calling for their arrest and prosecution.
In response to the video, former Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has launched a formal review of the allegations of misconduct against Mark Kelly, who is a retired Navy captain. The Pentagon has stated that it may even call Kelly back to active duty to face court-martial proceedings or other administrative actions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Four of the other Democrats are former military, but not retired and therefore are not subject to the UCMJ, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Slotkin, as a former CIA officer, is not subject to the UCM. Hegseth has criticized the video as a ‘politically-motivated influence operation,’ stating that the lawmakers never named a specific ‘illegal order,’ which ‘created ambiguity rather than clarity.’
He further argued that the video used ‘carefully scripted, legal-sounding language’ and that the lawmakers ‘subtly reframed military obedience around partisan distrust instead of established legal processes.’ Hegseth emphasized that in the military, vague rhetoric and ambiguity can undermine trust, create hesitation in the chain of command, and erode cohesion. The Pentagon has reiterated that the military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders and does not need political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command.
Trump’s response to the video was unequivocal, with the president issuing a strong statement that the lawmakers should be arrested and tried for ‘seditious behavior.’ This has intensified the debate not only among political parties but also within the military and the broader public regarding the boundaries of political expression and the responsibilities of lawmakers in relation to the military.