War Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an earful to a small group of Democrats — most of whom were veterans of the United States Armed Services — who created a video that appeared to be actively encouraging current service members to disobey orders from President Donald Trump. In the video in question, six Democrats — former CIA analyst and Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) along with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) — called on members of the military to seriously consider whether or not orders coming from the White House were “lawful” and clearly insinuated that they might not be. Hegseth laid into the six lawmakers in a post on Tuesday, pointing out that even though civilians might not think anything of the things they’d said, military service members should know better. “The despicable video urging @DeptofWar troops to ‘refuse illegal orders’ may seem harmless to civilians — but it carries a different weight inside the military,” Hegseth explained. “This was a politically-motivated influence operation: It never named a specific ‘illegal order’; It created ambiguity rather than clarity; It used carefully scripted, legal-sounding language; It subtly reframed military obedience around partisan distrust instead of established legal processes.” “In the military, vague rhetoric and ambiguity undermines trust, creates hesitation in the chain of command, and erodes cohesion,” he continued. “The military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders. It does not need political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command. As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing — sowing doubt through a politically-motivated influence operation. The @DeptofWar won’t fall for it or stand for it.” The despicable video urging @DeptofWar troops to “refuse illegal orders” may seem harmless to civilians — but it carries a different weight inside the military. This was a politically-motivated influence operation: ☑️ It never named a specific “illegal order.” ☑️ It created… — Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) November 25, 2025 Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at dailywire.com/blackfriday. After noting on Monday that Senator Kelly — the only one of the six who retired from the military — was still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Hegseth sent a memorandum on Tuesday to the Secretary of the Navy asking for a full review of Kelly’s comments on the video. He said that he’d expect a brief on the Navy Secretary’s review no later than December 10. pic.twitter.com/42TxcjdJiK — Department of War ?? (@DeptofWar) November 25, 2025