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Navy Sec Fired After Refusing To Ignore Court Order Protecting Sen. Kelly
April 24, 2026
Posted 3 hours ago by
Fox News’ chief national security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin stopped just short of saying that Navy Secretary John Phelan was suddenly fired, without official explanation, because he refused to ignore a court order protecting Sen. Kelly’s First Amendment right to urge service members to follow the law. Here’s what Griffin said: Hegseth and Phelan reportedly butted heads when Phelan refused to ignore a recent federal judge's ruling that said punishing Senator Mark Kelly for making a video in which he reminded military officers of their constitutional duty to not follow illegal orders would violate his First Amendment rights.
Hegseth wanted Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, brought back onto active duty and stripped of his rank. Griffin very deliberately ended her report about Phelan’s firing there, without further comment. Whether or not that particular episode is what drove Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth to fire Phelan, the fact that Whiskey Pete would get upset about following a court order protecting a Navy captain’s right to urge troops to follow the law should be enough to get Hegseth impeached and/or fired. But even if Hegseth had some other, more legitimate reason to oust Phelan, Griffin painted the nation’s most unqualified, unfit secretary of defense as a dangerously bad leader.read more
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