The War Department has launched a legal review into whether Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona improperly revealed classified material during a television appearance, with War Secretary Pete Hegseth raising concerns that the lawmaker may have violated his oath of service.
Hegseth accused Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, of sharing sensitive details from a Pentagon briefing while speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” where the senator addressed U.S. weapons reserves during the ongoing conflict with Iran.
“’Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again,” Hegseth posted Sunday night on X. “Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a CLASSIFIED Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath … again? @DeptofWar legal counsel will review.”
During the interview, Kelly told CBS anchor Margaret Brennan that recent Pentagon updates on Tomahawk missiles, ATACMS, THAAD interceptors, Patriot systems, and other weapons revealed alarming shortages after extended operations tied to the Iran war.
“We’ve expended a lot of munitions,” Kelly said. “And that means the American people are less safe.”
Kelly added that rebuilding certain weapons inventories could take a prolonged period, warning it may leave the United States exposed in the event of a confrontation with communist China over Taiwan.
Hegseth countered that the senator’s remarks appeared to draw from classified congressional briefings, suggesting the information should not have been discussed publicly.
The dispute is the latest chapter in an ongoing and contentious conflict between Hegseth and Kelly. The senator previously filed suit after the War Department sought to downgrade his retired Navy rank and issue a formal reprimand related to a video in which he encouraged service members to resist directives from the Trump administration.
Courts have so far prevented the Pentagon from carrying out those disciplinary measures, although the legal fight has not yet been resolved.
Last week, a three-judge panel at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments tied to Hegseth’s efforts to penalize Kelly for urging military personnel to refuse certain orders, according to CNN.
Kelly responded swiftly Sunday night, posting footage from a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in which Hegseth himself acknowledged that restoring U.S. weapons supplies could take significant time.
“We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles,” Kelly wrote on X. “That’s not classified.”
In his CBS appearance, Kelly also took aim at President Donald Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict, arguing that the administration entered the confrontation “without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline.”
Republicans, however, have warned that publicly discussing military preparedness and stockpile levels—particularly after receiving classified briefings—could provide adversaries with useful intelligence during a period of heightened international tensions.
{Matzav.com}