At a Glance
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants Mark Kelly stripped of his military pension and rank after the senator urged troops to refuse “illegal orders.”
- The couple, married since 2007, have spent the last decade campaigning against gun violence after Gabby Giffords survived a 2011 head-shot.
- Both say they “won’t back down” from the Pentagon attack.
- Why it matters: The move could chill lawmakers’ ability to question military directives and affects a prominent veteran-couple’s future security.
Senator Mark Kelly and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords are pushing back after the Pentagon threatened Kelly’s retirement benefits, their most public political fight since Giffords’ near-fatal shooting.
Pentagon v. Kelly
On Jan. 5, Hegseth moved to revoke Kelly’s pension and officer rank, citing a Nov. 2025 video in which Kelly and five Democrats told service members to reject unlawful orders amid U.S. airstrikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Appearing on Good Morning America the next day, the combat-experienced retired astronaut said:
> “Let me make this perfectly clear… Gabby and I are not people that back down from anything, from any kind of fight.”
The couple view the attack as retaliation for questioning executive decisions.
A Partnership Forged in Crisis
Kelly and Giffords met during a 2003 young-leaders forum in China, reconnected a year later in Arizona, and married on Nov. 10, 2007, at Agua Linda Farm with 300 guests.
Key moments in their timeline:
- Jan. 8, 2011 – Giffords shot in Tucson; six others killed
- 2013 – Co-founded Giffords, a gun-violence-prevention nonprofit
- July 2022 – President Biden awarded Giffords the Presidential Medal of Freedom
They had planned IVF treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital the week of the shooting; the attack ended that hope, though they now help raise Kelly’s two daughters and granddaughter Sage, born May 31, 2021.
Key Takeaways
- Hegseth’s petition targets a 34-year Navy captain and ex-astronaut who now chairs Senate armed-services subcommittees.
- The couple’s advocacy group has helped pass background-check expansions in multiple states.
- Both vow to keep speaking out on military accountability and gun reform despite personal cost.
With Kelly’s pension hanging in the balance, the pair say their fight is bigger than one benefit check-it’s about who gets to question power.
