Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday directed Pentagon legal counsel to investigate Sen. Mark Kelly for a second time, accusing the Arizona Democrat of disclosing classified information during a television interview. Hegseth made the announcement via social media after Kelly appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" and expressed concern about the depth of US weapons depletion during the ongoing war with Iran.

Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut who serves on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, told CBS anchor Margaret Brennan that Pentagon briefings had revealed alarming drawdowns of munitions including Tomahawks, ATACMS, and Patriot rounds. "We've expended a lot of munitions. And that means the American people are less safe," Kelly said, warning that stockpile depletion created vulnerabilities in potential future conflicts, including in the western Pacific. Kelly fired back at Hegseth, posting a video of the two at a recent Senate hearing in which Hegseth himself stated it would take "years" to replenish certain stockpiles, arguing the information was already on the public record.

The confrontation is the second such clash between Hegseth and Kelly. In January, Hegseth announced administrative action against Kelly — including efforts to reduce the senator's retired military rank and issue a letter of censure — after Kelly and five other Democrats with military or intelligence backgrounds posted a November video calling on US service members to refuse illegal orders. Kelly sued Hegseth over those actions, and a federal judge ruled them unconstitutionally retaliatory. Last week, a majority of a three-judge panel at the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals appeared ready to reject the Justice Department's effort to revive the punitive measures.

The dispute unfolds against a backdrop of broader concern over US military readiness. CNN previously reported that the US military has significantly drawn down key missile stockpiles during the Iran conflict, creating what experts and people familiar with internal Defense Department assessments described as a "near-term risk" of ammunition shortfalls should another conflict arise within the next few years. The latest investigation call raises fresh questions about the boundaries between classified information and publicly stated government positions, as well as the administration's use of administrative tools against sitting legislators.