Mark Kelly

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is targeting Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) again.

Hegseth said in a social media post on Sunday that the Pentagon will be reviewing Kelly’s recent appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” in which he said the U.S. has “expended a lot of munitions” in its war against Iran. The defense secretary claimed that Kelly discussed classified information during his television interview.

“It’s shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines,” Kelly said on Sunday.

He added: “We’ve expended a lot of munitions, and that means the American people are less safe, whether it’s a conflict in the western Pacific with China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted.”

Hegseth responded to CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan’s post on X reporting on the interview.

“‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again. Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED* Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath…again? @DeptofWar legal counsel will review," Hegseth wrote on X.

Kelly fired back on X, arguing that the information was not classified because Hegseth already discussed it during his testimony to the Senate.

“We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles. That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you. This war is coming at a serious cost and you and the president still haven’t explained to the American people what the goal is,” Kelly said.

He also shared a video of Hegseth’s comments from the hearing, which included him saying it will take “months” and “years” to rebuild some of the U.S. munitions stockpiles.

Hegseth’s comments were met with backlash on X.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a veteran, wrote: “You’re an actor. You’re playing Secdef. At least try to play a good one.”

An account with the username Republicans Against Trump posted: “He’s going to beat you in court, you absolute clown.”

Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe noted that Kelly did not specify exact munition numbers, which could be classified information.

“In this case, the comments from Kelly that Hegseth is claiming are an issue do not address specific munition numbers. That’s generally where classification comes into play. No sign of that here,” he wrote.

This latest clash is part of an ongoing conflict between Kelly and the Trump administration. Trump’s administration has targeted Kelly since he shared a video with five other Democrats reminding active-duty service members that they should not follow illegal orders.

The video, shared in November, sparked widespread outrage from Trump, who accused the Democrats of “seditious behavior.” It also led to an investigation from the Defense Department into Kelly, who has argued that the video is protected by his First Amendment rights.