A half-dozen Democratic veterans in Congress, led by Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, released a joint video this week urging US service members to refuse illegal orders. On the surface, that sounds like a civics lesson. Anyone who has served our country in uniform knows they are bound to the Constitution, not any individual.
But the lawmakers never identified a single example of these supposed “illegal orders.” They offered no hypothetical, no context, no scenario, just a blanket warning that the real “threats to our Constitution” are “coming from right here at home.” The clear implication was political, not legal.
And that’s where this turns from a patriotic message into something far more dangerous: A message with no examples is a message with a target.
If these lawmakers were genuinely worried about a specific action, they could have said so plainly. They chose instead to issue a broad, unspecific caution aimed at a military institution that depends on absolute clarity and a chain of command.
The audience wasn’t the public. It was the rank and file and the message was unmistakable: Be prepared to defy the commander-in-chief.
That sentiment has been building for months among certain Democrats still consumed with Trump Derangement Syndrome. But it’s worth asking: What would happen if Republicans released a similar video instructing service members to “refuse orders” under a Democratic president? The reaction would be volcanic. Editorial boards would immediately reach for words like “insurrection” and “subversion.”
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn called it “inconceivable” that elected officials would publicly encourage troops to question lawful orders. And even War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who actually oversees the military, mocked the lawmakers’ message as “Stage 4 TDS.” A solid diagnosis.
This is where the rhetoric becomes truly reckless, however. The group of Democrats calling, subtly, for insurrection are trying to make the military into a political tool.
Our military is the most trusted institution in the country precisely because it stays out of politics. According to Gallup, trust in the military typically hovers around 60-70% of Americans expressing a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence, compared to lows of 20-30% of trust for institutions like Congress.
Encouraging men and women in uniform to begin judging orders through a partisan lens erodes that trust, not in the military but in Congress itself. But it may also lay the groundwork for confusion, doubt, and division within the chain of command.
And division within a military force is not harmless. It is destabilizing and dangerous. It’s the very thing we accuse banana republic nations of enduring.
Election-year messaging is obviously part of the play here. The lawmakers who starred in this video framed it around Donald Trump, suggesting, without evidence, that he intends to issue unlawful directives or force service members into ethically compromised situations.
But this is projection and political fear-marketing dressed up in patriotic language. It is meant to create the impression that the military must brace itself not for foreign enemies, but for domestic ones, and specifically, for those who vote differently.
No serious leader should ever encourage that mindset.
For years, Democrats have used the word “insurrection” with abandon. They’ve applied it to protests, statements, court filings, hearings, even tweets. They called the Jan. 6 unrest at the US Capitol an “insurrection.”
But instructing military members to disregard presidential orders? That’s in a different galaxy.
If we are going to talk about threats to democracy, we should at least recognize one when it’s coming from people holding public office.
This video by Democrats was not patriotic, responsible, nor an action meant to strengthen our military. It was reckless political theater, delivered in the vocabulary of accountability but aimed squarely at sowing doubt within the ranks. For lawmakers who often claim their political opponents “undermine institutions,” this is a stunning self-inflicted wound.
If you want to safeguard democracy, you don’t start by eroding the chain of command.
Democrats who participated in this video should step back, reconsider the precedent they’re setting, and ask themselves a simple question:
In a republic that depends on a strong, disciplined military, who is truly undermining the Constitution here?
Suzanne Downing is the founder and editor of The Alaska Story.
22 thoughts on “When members of Congress tell troops to ignore orders, who exactly is flirting with insurrection?”
The left lib commie dems are suffering greatly from TDS. They are reaching for any sick angle to fight President Trump despite it hurting the citizens of our great country. They voted against the CR even though it denied food stamps to those in need, delayed pay to government workers & impacted our economy. Their behavior is akin to a romantic breakup where 1 party kills the other “if I can’t have him/her no one will.” Now they’re promoting treason among our military!!!
Curiously, these same veteran congressmen who feel so compelled to warn (help?) active military members against obeying illegal orders do not offer any specifics to help the military member determine what illegal order has been or could be issued.
It seems a reasonable argument could be made that these same congresspeople have exposed themselves to recall under UCMJ Article 94 ( and others) to answer for potentially seditious acts. Not that we should presume to counsel them, but given their soliticious and helpful stance, would they themselves be as respectful of the law (UCMJ) if recalled to answer for equally illegal acts?
Or do they consider they are exempt from the laws and regulations the rest of us among the great unwashed must follow?
I get more than a whiff of elitism from their sudden concern. Better they assume military members, active or inactive, were well schooled on the subject of illegal orders and are capable of making that determination without their unsolicited help.
Those leaders are out of their boundaries
World history will show that Boomers tried to be good leaders but history will record GenXers and GenY or Millennials as industries and governments Worse leaders overall
Where is Murkowski in this treasonous act? Her record shows complicity. Why? Cuz Pelosi has her by the nose.
This may be a component of the effort by the Left to define “democracy” and concepts surrounding it in ways that only support the Left’s continued stranglehold on power. Two significant examples are the use of the phrases “rule of law” and “our democracy.” I asked Grok about the use of the “rule of law”.. Grok reported that the “rule of law” phrase as being largely used by those on the Left to support their objectives. In the case of “our democracy,” it was really, really obvious to me that when former Representative Luz Cheney talked about “our democracy” she meant the democracy that she and her fellow travelers dominated and controlled and no other. The Left is making a sustained and well-funded effort to define and control what thoughts and conduct are acceptable. This effort, IMO, is pure evil. Pay attention to the language.
We should never disobey the Holy Spirit, God. If we know we’re being ordered to do something that is immoral, we should quit and refuse to participate.
If “Christians“ in Germany during World War II would have refused to participate in the offensive wars that ended up getting Germany destroyed, they would’ve saved Germany. Instead, they did whatever Hitler told them, and millions of Germans were unnecessarily slaughtered.
Many Americans and Brits did despicable things to the Germans during World War II, which they should’ve refused to do.
The Allies firebombed German civilian centers, murdering and incinerating as many as 1 million children, young people, women and old folks from the air.
We also dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese civilians, which was said to be necessary in order to end the war; though, the Japanese were already ready to surrender.
Many conservatives have given Tucker Carlson a hard time because he’s trying to be Godly in his opposition to immoral wars, and he’s actually investigating what really happened on 9/11.
He is fully repenting of having supported the Iraq war, and many evangelicals don’t like this.
we need to follow the Holy Spirit, not Fox News, the war channel for evangelicals. we will be accountable to God one day for what we did and didn’t do during this life.
We have lost our soul when we are no longer “peacemakers,” which Jesus says we must be in order to be called the children of God and be blessed — the sermon of the Mount, Matthew 5.
No Jeff, the Japanese were not ready to surrender, most anybody that was alive then, including me, will tell you that.
“Just following orders” didn’t work at Nuremberg, and it sure as h*** won’t work here either. Soldiers know that, and under the current circumstances, may benefit by being reminded of it.
Hans, thanks for illustrating Godwin’s Law so impeccably.
And which orders under the current circumstances are you talking about here?
Well it just seems so appropriate these days…
In other words, just like those in the video directing service members to violate their oaths without cause, you have nothing.
Hans I am making the assumption that YOU never served. You would know better otherwise. Our service members do NOT need yours or those lawmakers arrogant “reminders”.
It appears that we have a clear violation of the separation of powers as congressional members attempt to interfere with the executive branch by promoting mutiny on the commander in chief, solely based on their unspecified feelings and innuendo.
A Taxpayer: “promoting mutiny on the commander in chief “ is not accurate. The veterans warned military members of a fact defined by some military code somewhere. All components of our military are under stress and pressure to follow Trump’s illegal pronouncements (arrests of US citizens made by unidentified masked and armed men. Also murder of Venezuelan boat crews).
Tough to be military right now. Dementia has whittled Trump’s empathy-free incurious mind to a standstill; so what to do if he orders the execution of the six veterans in the video. Would you kill them?
“The veterans warned military members of a fact defined by some military code somewhere.”
What a load of clap-trap and an admission on your part that you know nothing of the subject.
Please specify the “illegal pronouncements” you claim in your post. Making statements is very different from giving orders.
Incidentally it should be pointed out that recruitment is up.
Arresting violent rioters isn’t a violation of law. It is considered keeping the peace!
“so what to do if he orders the execution of the six veterans in the video. Would you kill them?”
Another idiotic statement, as a treason or sedition charge would be adjudicated in the courts and a jury would either convict or acquit.
Just keep.in mind that they will have to defend that decision to refuse an order. Leavenworth awaits!
In assessing this controversy, it is critical to distinguish political speech from the exercise of lawful command authority. Members of Congress speaking publicly to military personnel about their oath to the Constitution and the duty to refuse unlawful orders are engaging in protected political and constitutional commentary, not issuing operational orders or directing disobedience to lawful commands. Such speech, standing alone, does not alter the chain of command, does not invoke any formal legal mechanism, and does not meet the constitutional or statutory definition of “insurrection” or “rebellion,” which requires concrete acts of uprising or organized resistance against the lawful authority of the United States, not merely strong or even reckless rhetoric.
That said, Americans should be deeply concerned whenever elected officials of any party use the language of “treason,” “sedition,” or “insurrection” as routine political weapons, or speak in ways that blur the line between loyalty to the Constitution and loyalty to a particular person. Even if no crime is committed in this instance, such rhetoric erodes public trust, pressures servicemembers in their unique role under the chain of command, and slowly normalizes contempt for constitutional checks and balances. The danger is not that this episode already is an insurrection, but that careless words about insurrection and disobedience make a genuine constitutional crisis more likely the next time a President or Congress truly does cross the line.
“The God Complex ” has the capacity to heighten this ! Beware citizens…. Just my opinion. Liberty Ed
Sorry Ed, you can’t have it both ways.
You claim that lawmakers indirectly encouraging troops to disobey orders that they personally find “illegal” is simply free speech. Yet you do not grant that same privilege to those, who express their OPINION that such statements are seditious or treasonous in nature. How very undemocratic of you.
Any group, who undermines military function and effectiveness, is guilty of betraying the public trust. This is especially true, since unspecific innuendo has no basis in fact and is simply an attempt to smear the person, the people elected to be their leader. The lawmakers action propels a narrative that is not factual. A society can not operate on conjured up scenarios.
“The lawmakers action propels a narrative that is not factual”. What part is not factual?
Aren’t these members of Congress referring to US military strikes that are killing drug traffickers outside the US?
Who knows what they are referring to, but one should consider that none of them had any issue with Obama constantly lobbing ordnance via drones on terrorist and innocent alike in the Middle East!
SEDITION….President Trump is the Commander in Chief of the military and the Chief Executive of our Republic!
Senators such as AZ Mark Kelly must immediately retract their recent comments in the firmest public way! A new video must be made and aired to apologize for their recent seditious one. If they don’t reverse their seditious actions, the next step is to prosecute the creators of this seditious video! This must include the funders of the video.
It appears that we, the American public, are being dragged into the next phase of an evil and ambitious plan to dismantle and destroy all that our Constitution protects.
Words used throughout history have caused harm to occur.
Words like right – left, black – white, North – South, have – have nots, slave – owner.
More intense words like progressive – liberal – conservative.
Fascist, racist, homophobe…indeed any and all ***phobe words, socialist and on and on.
All supposedly protected by the First Amendment.
But then we get those who should be bolstering our laws creating distrust and havoc and actively fomenting division with words like treason and sedition. All while bowing to the creators of this farce.
Lawmakers boo-hooing that his/her terrible death will occur because he/she used his/her PROTECTED free speech to instigate military disobedience to their Commander in Chief.
It appears somebody somewhere with deep pockets is trying to drag us into a bloody CIVIL WAR.