The Pentagon’s Retaliation Campaign Against Senator Kelly Is Unconstitutional

CATO | 2026-05-09 | society

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English Summary

CATO’s analysis argues that the Pentagon’s campaign against Senator Kelly, including threats of pay reduction and potential criminal prosecution, is unconstitutional due to violating the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions. The DoD’s actions attempt to punish Kelly’s criticism of military policy through withholding government benefits, effectively imposing a monetary penalty on his First Amendment rights. The Cato brief highlights the risk of this precedent setting a dangerous trend where the executive branch could censor speech by military retirees. The DC Circuit Court’s expected ruling to uphold the injunction is crucial to safeguarding constitutional protections for retired service members.

中文摘要

CATO 的分析認為，五角大廈針對參議員凱利的行動，包括威脅減薪和可能面臨刑事起訴，違反了無憲法條件原則。五角大廈的行為試圖通過剝奪凱利對軍事政策的批評，並對其一項第一修正案權利實施貨幣懲罰，從而對凱利的批評進行懲罰。CATO 的法律文件強調了這種先例可能導致的風險，即行政部門可以通過對退伍軍人的言論進行審查，這將形成一個危險的趨勢。預計華盛頓巡回區法院維持禁令的裁決對於保護退伍軍人的憲法權利至關重要。

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