2 GOP senators caution Hegseth on punish

Two high-profile Republican senators on Monday warned Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth against reducing Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-Ariz.) military rank or pension as punishment for filming a video with several other Democratic lawmakers urging service members not to follow unlawful orders. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has jurisdiction over the Pentagon’s budget as chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, said it’s not “appropriate” to target Kelly’s retired rank or pension because of the video urging members of the military to defy orders they view as unlawful. “I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Collins said Monday of the proceedings Hegseth announced earlier in the day against Kelly, a retired Navy captain who flew 39 combat missions as a naval aviator and four space missions as an astronaut. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called the Pentagon’s censure of Kelly “ridiculous,” even though he strongly criticized the Democrats’ video urging service members to ignore orders they view as unjust or illegal. “That video was rage bait … but my gosh, he is a U.S. senator who operates in a political world,” Tillis said, according to a reporter for HuffPost. “I think it has a chilling effect on speech, and I’ve got a real problem with it. And I think Hegseth overreached,” Tillis warned. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that Kelly will have a chance to defend himself during what he said would be an “adjudication process.” “My understanding is that there’s an adjudication process and I think we should let the adjudication process work its way through,” he said. Asked if the disciplinary proceedings are appropriate given Kelly’s position as a senator and member of the Armed Services panel, Rounds said, “I think we’ll let the process play out.” “I think Sen. Kelly is perfectly capable of working his way through this issue,” he said.

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