Sen. Mark Kelly files lawsuit against Pete Hegseth over censure
Sen. Mark Kelly leaves after the Senate voted on the Venezuela War Powers Resolution at the U.S. Capitol, January 08, 2026, in Washington. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on Monday filed a lawsuit against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arguing that Hegseth’s censure of him last week over his inclusion in a social media video that told U.S. service members they have a right to refuse unlawful orders violated his constitutional rights.
“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him — and this or any administration — accountable. His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted,” Kelly said in a statement.
The senator’s lawsuit also names the Department of Defense, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and the Department of the Navy as defendants.
Kelly alleges, among other things, that actions taken against him violate his First Amendment right to free speech, the speech and debate clause that protects lawmakers and his right to due process.
ABC News has reached out to Department of Defense for comment.
Hegseth censured Kelly on Jan. 5 for “conduct [that] was seditious in nature,” referring to the video Kelly participated in in November alongside other Democrats who previously served in the military or in the intelligence community.
Kelly and the other five Democrats involved in the video have defended their message as being in line with the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Constitution.
The censure will result in a reduction in rank and Kelly’s retirement pay, a process Hegseth said would take 45 days. Kelly retired as a Navy captain and receives retirement benefits for his more than 20 years of service.
Kelly retired as a Navy captain and receives retirement benefits for his more than 20 years of service.
In an interview with ABC News after the censure, Kelly said he still would “absolutely not” have changed his message to U.S. troops about not following illegal orders.’
“Let me make this perfectly clear, though, that Gabby and I are not people that back down,” Kelly said last Tuesday during an appearance with his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, on “Good Morning America.” “From anything, from any kind of fight.”
A farmer climbs onto a cotton stripper during a harvest at a farm near Corn, Okla., Nov. 19, 2025. Nick Oxford/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is set to announce a $12 billion aid package for American farmers on Monday, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.
The package is set to include $11 billion in one-time payments to crop farmers through a new Department of Agriculture bridge payment program. The remaining funds will then go to other crops not covered by that program.
The long-promised aid package is intended to provide relief to farmers who have been hurt directly by Trump’s trade policies, including his global tariffs.
The news of the aid package announcement was first reported by Bloomberg.
A White House official confirmed that Trump will announce the package at an event with farmers at the White House on Monday afternoon.
Impact of tariffs on farmers
The aid package comes as the U.S.-China trade war has hit soybean farmers especially hard. Through most of this fall, during a bumper harvest season, China had blocked all purchases of soybeans from the U.S.
China was the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans in 2024, accounting for $12.64 billion in sales, according to the USDA.
During Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi in late October, the U.S. and China announced a framework trade agreement that included a deal on soybeans. China agreed to purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans in the final two months of this year and 25 million metric tons in 2026, 2027 and 2028 — on par with levels before the trade war.
So far, China has purchased about 2.2 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S. since the end of October, USDA data shows.
New package comes after Argentina bailout controversy
The administration’s new actions also come on the heels of the administration’s $20 billion bailout of Argentina, a move many American farmers and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle criticized.
This fall, as China stopped buying all soybeans from U.S. farmers, it purchased soybeans from Argentina instead. So as the U.S. was giving a financial lifeline to Argentina, a country that directly benefited from the trade war, American farmers said they felt left behind.
“Farmers VERY upset [about] Argentina selling soybeans to China right after USA bail out Still ZERO USA soybeans sold to China,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote in a September social media post about the bailout.
Trump, in his first term, also took action to bail out American farmers. His administration approved two packages in 2018 and 2019 totaling $28 billion for farmers impacted by his economic policies.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth looks on during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A Pentagon watchdog concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked exposing classified information that could have endangered U.S. troops when he relayed details about a planned military strike in Yemen using the Signal commercial messaging app, according to a person who read the classified investigative report and another source with knowledge of the findings.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance promised their supporters that they would release the Justice Department files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein if elected.
Since then, however, the administration has been reluctant to divulge more details about the investigation or release all of the files, angering some Republicans and Democrats and raising questions about Trump’s past connections to Epstein.
Here is a timeline of the major events surrounding the Epstein files saga since Trump returned to office.
Feb. 21, 2025 In an interview with Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked about the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients and if the Justice Department was planning to release them.
Bondi responded, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”
The attorney general clarified in July that she was referring to the Epstein case files, and not an alleged client list.
Feb. 27, 2025 The Justice Department invites conservative bloggers and influencers and shares with them binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” Most of the evidence had already been released to the public.
Bondi and her team did not inform White House officials in advance that she planned to distribute the binders, sources with information about the event told ABC News.
May 8, 2025 The House’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets demanded the release of the Epstein files in a letter to Bondi.
Bondi did not respond to the request before the May 16 deadline.
July 7, 2025 The DOJ and FBI released a joint statement that stated a review of its holdings uncovered no evidence of any client list kept by Epstein or other evidence that would predicate a criminal investigation of any uncharged parties.
The department also released hours of purported footage as part of its review, which officials say further confirmed Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.
The video from the Bureau of Prisons showing the moments before Epstein’s death was later determined to have been missing footage. Several conservative influencers slam Bondi and the Justice Department over the memo.
July 12, 2025 Trump defended Bondi in a social media post amid the pushback from some in his MAGA base over the handling of the Epstein probe.
Trump praised Bondi for doing a “fantastic job” and urged his “boys” and “gals” to stop criticizing her.
July 15, 2025 Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna seek a House vote for a discharge petition to release the Epstein files.
The same day, House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Bondi to “come forward and explain” her handling of the probe.
Signatures for the petition continue to grow, however, do not reach the 218 needed to move forward.
Asked what Bondi told him about the review of the Epstein files and if his name appeared at all, Trump responded, “No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” before making baseless claims that the files were created by some of his political foes.
“Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release,” Trump said.
July 24-25, 2025 Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, interviewed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking and other charges related to Epstein’s illicit activities.
Maxwell initiated the meeting, multiple sources told ABC News.
A month later, the Justice Department released a transcript of the interview, which was not under oath, where she claimed there was no client list.
Aug. 1, 2025 Maxwell was transferred from a federal prison in Florida, which is labeled “low security” to a federal prison camp in Texas, which is labeled “minimum security,” the Justice Department announced.
Sept. 8, 2025 Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a 238-page PDF document of the 50th birthday book to Epstein that includes a prologue by Maxwell and a page allegedly written by Trump.
Trump’s page features a typed letter written inside a doodle of a woman’s body, with his signature located in a provocative spot on the body.
The president denied that he wrote and signed the letter.
Nov. 12, 2025 Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails that were part of more than 20,000 from the Epstein estate.
Some of the messages show Epstein talking about Trump, including one where he claimed Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of the sex-trafficked victims.
The White House accused Democrats on the House Oversight Committee of releasing “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative” about Trump.
Later that evening, Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn into office, a month after she won a special election, and became the final signature on the discharge petition to get it over the 218 threshold.
Johnson announced that he would bring a bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein files to a vote on the floor next week.
