Appeals court appears poised to reject Hegseth’s bid to punish Mark Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ video | CNN Politics

A federal appeals court appeared ready Thursday to reject Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to punish Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his call to US service members to refuse illegal orders. A majority of judges on a three-member panel at the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals spent more than an hour and a half throwing cold water on arguments pushed by the Justice Department to revive Hegseth’s plans, which were shut down earlier this year by a federal judge who said they were unconstitutionally retaliatory. “That is something that is taught at Annapolis to every cadet,” Judge Nina Pillard, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said of Kelly’s comments last year. “These are people who served their country – many put their lives on the line,” said Judge Florence Pan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden. “And you’re saying that they have to give up their retired status in order to say something that is a textbook example taught at West Point and the Naval Academy – that you can disobey illegal orders.” The third member of the panel – Judge Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George H. W. Bush – seemed at least somewhat symp