Here’s another precedent that could come back to haunt Hill Republicans one day — President Donald Trump’s administration is launching an investigation into Democratic lawmakers for a critical video posted to X.
The video, posted Nov. 18, featured six Democratic lawmakers with national security backgrounds telling military service members they shouldn’t feel compelled to comply with illegal orders. Service members must follow “lawful orders’’ under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
It’s precisely the kind of Democratic video clip we’ve come to expect during the Trump era — veterans, former intelligence officials and others in the defense space taking a whack at the president in a manner that questions his fidelity to the nation’s constitutional order.
On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he may punish Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) for his participation in the viral video. Hegseth ordered Navy Secretary John Phelan to review Kelly’s comments and report back to him by Dec. 10. Kelly is a retired Navy captain and former astronaut.
On Tuesday, all six lawmakers revealed the FBI is seeking to question them. In addition to Kelly, the other Democrats are: Reps. Jason Crow (Colo.), a former Army officer; Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), a former Air Force captain; Chris Deluzio (Pa.), a former Navy lieutenant who served in Iraq; Maggie Goodlander (N.H.), who served in the Navy reserves; and Sen. Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), who worked at the CIA.
Slotkin said the FBI outreach was from the agency’s counterterrorism division.
“No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution,” the four House members said in a joint statement.
The FBI declined to comment on the investigation.
While Kelly can technically be court-martialed given his retiree status, there’s no precedent for going after a sitting senator in this way. The issue could eventually be resolved in the courts.
Another point — lawmakers are entitled to constitutionally protected speech under Article I of the Constitution, so there are major separation of powers questions at play here.
Republicans react. With Congress out of session for the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s difficult to get a full sense of just how many Republicans think it’s unwise to launch federal probes into Democrats for the social media video.
But Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and John Curtis (R-Utah) quickly came to Kelly’s defense.
Curtis said he respects Kelly. Murkowski said this of the Arizona Democrat:
“To accuse him and other lawmakers of treason and sedition for rightfully pointing out that servicemembers can refuse illegal orders is reckless and flat-out wrong.”
The politics. On Truth Social, Trump accused the Democratic lawmakers of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!.” Trump also reposted a user who said they should be hanged.
These new probes centered on the video come as both Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel are under increasing internal pressure over a variety of issues.
Hegseth has been upstaged, in a sense, by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. Driscoll, a Yale Law School friend of Vice President JD Vance, was dispatched to Ukraine to try to end its war with Russia.
Patel has been under withering criticism for his use of local FBI SWAT teams to protect his girlfriend. MSNOW reported that Patel’s days leading the FBI may be numbered.
Trump’s top law enforcement deputies had yet another setback on Monday when a federal judge dismissed all charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, two high-profile Trump enemies.
It’s worth pointing out that Hegseth’s public comments may politically only help Kelly, a possible 2028 presidential candidate.
But like the other five Democrats being targeted by Trump, the political benefits come with a cost. They’re now facing escalating death threats. Slotkin, for example, now has a Capitol Police detail.
One health care update. Brace for a raft of discharge petitions when Congress comes back post-Thanksgiving. Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to call the White House to communicate just how unpopular an Obamacare subsidy extension is has unleashed some furor in the House GOP.
One House Republican told us moderate members are “apoplectic” that Johnson is blocking votes to extend the Obamacare subsidies. They said GOP members plan to join up with Democrats to “unload” several discharge petitions on the issue. Here’s more from the member on the anger within the House Republican Conference toward leadership:
“Every week it’s more censures, public flogging of Members, and a massive redistricting strategy totally blown up in their faces. The flood gates will be wide open with retirement announcements after holidays with family.”
Trump addressed the subsidies during a gaggle on Air Force One Tuesday evening. Trump said he’d “rather not” extend them but may need to in order to pass a larger health care plan next year.
“Somebody said I want to extend them for two years,” Trump said. “I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all. Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the ‘Unaffordable Care Act’ has been a disaster.”
