Retired Gen. Jack Keane sharply criticized a group of congressional Democrats after they released a video urging U.S. service members to “refuse illegal orders” from the Trump administration, calling the move “irresponsible,” “reckless” and a direct challenge to the military chain of command.
“This is pretty outrageous. I don’t have a frame of reference for it whatsoever,” Keane said Monday on “America’s Newsroom.”
“These are irresponsible, reckless political leaders, and I normally don’t go after political leaders in our country, but they deserve it now. They’re absolutely undermining the military chain of command.”
The video, released last Tuesday, featured Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jason Crow. In it, they invoke their prior service while urging troops to “refuse illegal orders.”
Conservatives condemned the message as an appeal to defy President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.
Keane argued the lawmakers were “insulting the intelligence of our soldiers and their moral commitment to serve the nation,” noting that none of them has yet identified a specific illegal order.
“What is the purpose of doing this? What are they trying to accomplish?” he asked.
“We’ve only declared war five times in the history of the nation. The last was World War II, and presidents have acted since that time under the powers they have to take action against those they believe present a security risk to the United States of America. These politicians should stand down and deal with the events in front of them, as opposed to undermining the chain of command.”
Keane said it is entirely legitimate to criticize Trump’s policies, but drawing troops into political disputes by suggesting they disobey orders crosses a line.
The video coincided with Slotkin and her colleagues introducing legislation to limit Trump’s authority to deploy National Guard forces domestically or to launch military action against narco-terrorists without congressional approval.
Slotkin defended the video in an interview with ABC News host Martha Raddatz over the weekend. She said she is not aware of Trump issuing any illegal orders, but added, “there are certainly some legal gymnastics that are going on with the Caribbean strikes.”
“For us, it was just a statement, widely,” she said. “We say quickly and to all the folks who come to us, ‘This is the process, go to your JAG officer, for explanation… for their view on things.’”
Houlahan, in a statement to Fox News Digital, rejected claims that the video encourages rebellion.
“Some in the administration and media are actively working to distort that message into something dark or divisive,” she said. “Let me be absolutely clear: there is nothing more patriotic, nothing more stabilizing and nothing more true to the rule of law than reminding our military of their constitutional obligations and reassuring them that, if they are ever given an unlawful order, they do not have to carry it out.”
She continued, “‘Don’t Give Up the Ship’ is not a slogan of rebellion—it is a historic naval motto that has always stood for steadfastness, duty and loyalty to country. That is the backbone of American civil-military tradition.”
Crow offered a similar defense in a statement to “The Ingraham Angle.”
“The president is putting our service members in a very difficult situation,” he said. “He’s sending active-duty troops to police U.S. cities and discussing using our military against the enemy within. We’re reminding our service members about what the law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice clearly says, and you have the right and obligation to not carry out illegal orders.”
Trump, for his part, has hinted at potential jail time for the lawmakers, accusing them of encouraging “seditious behavior” by suggesting troops might defy him.
Asked for an example of an illegal order from the Trump administration, Slotkin’s office pointed to an episode in which Trump allegedly asked then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper if he could order protesters shot in the legs.
The Democratic lawmakers later released a joint statement responding to Trump’s comments on Truth Social.
“No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation,” they wrote, referring to what they described as their duty to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.
Slotkin, Kelly, Deluzio and Goodlander did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s prior requests for additional comment.
