WASHINGTON—Six Democratic lawmakers have called on members of the military and the intelligence community to disobey “illegal orders” from the top command.
A video was released on X on Nov. 18 featuring Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), and Jason Crow (D-Colo.). Each of these lawmakers served in the military or the intelligence community.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r
One by one, each speaking different sections of the sentence in the video, Kelly, Slotkin, Crow, and Deluzio said, “We want to speak directly to members of the military—and the Intelligence Community—who take risks each day to keep Americans safe.”
The lawmakers delivered their message in that manner throughout the video.
Slotkin said service members are “under enormous stress and pressure right now” amid national disputes over the limits of executive authority and military operations.
Kelly, Slotkin, and Crow accused the Trump administration of “pitting … uniformed military and Intelligence Community professionals against American citizens.”
The Democratic lawmakers didn’t specify in their short video any specific orders from the administration that they are targeting. Meanwhile, a handful of issues related to military and intelligence operations have flared up recently, including the Trump administration’s National Guard deployment in recent months to several major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon.
Some local officials and Democratic governors opposed these deployments, which the administration said were intended to reduce crime and protect federal agents and property during federal law enforcement operations. The use of the National Guard for protection of federal property and other interests is permitted under federal statutes. Other functions, such as law enforcement, are more restricted.
The administration’s airstrikes on alleged drug boats—now numbering more than 20 strikes that have killed more than 80 alleged traffickers—have also come under scrutiny.
Critics, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have argued that these strikes constitute the military carrying out law enforcement functions and are contrary to U.S. legal traditions and norms. In law enforcement matters, officials must follow the legal process, including obtaining warrants on suspects and receiving permission to make arrests or use lethal force.
The administration has stated that drug traffickers are foreign terrorists and that the airstrikes constitute self-defense amid an opioid crisis in the United States. The Department of Justice has said military service members who take part in the strikes will not be subject to prosecution.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who has received classified briefings on the strikes, has called for the administration to share more information with the public on the strikes. Rogers said that the evidence presented to him showed that the strikes are “completely legal.”
“[Administration officials] should be more transparent about it, in my view,” he said.
In the video, Kelly and Goodlander noted that members of the military and the intelligence community swore an oath to defend the Constitution.
“The threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad—but from right here at home,” Deluzio and Crow said.
“Our laws are clear; you can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly said.
Slotkin repeated, “You can refuse illegal orders.”
“You must refuse illegal orders,” Deluzio said.
“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law—or our Constitution,” Slotkin and Houlahan said.
Under U.S. military law, members of the military are obligated to refuse “manifestly unlawful” orders, including orders to commit a crime or violate the Constitution. Federal law prohibits members of the intelligence community from taking part in unlawful or unconstitutional activities, even when ordered to do so by superiors.
By Jackson Richman and Joseph Lord
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