California gubernatorial hopeful and Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell said that active‑duty soldiers are telling him they can act as a “check” on President Donald Trump. He made the remark on Don Lemon’s program last Monday, following the release of a clip in which six Democratic lawmakers urged service members to “refuse illegal orders” from the former president.
After the video leaked, the Department of the Army announced on X that it had begun a formal inquiry into misconduct allegations against Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired naval officer who appeared in the footage. Swalwell argued that the Trump administration, by targeting Kelly for his stance, had effectively “told on” itself, and that some soldiers have stepped forward as a safeguard for the nation.
“What gives me hope, and I talk to service members all the time,” Swalwell said, “They tell me that I don’t appreciate enough and the public doesn’t appreciate enough that while Congress is not a check on the president anymore, and the judiciary at the Supreme Court is hardly a check, military members have told me, ‘We can be a check.’”
Swalwell agreed with Lemon that Republicans now press service members to “ignore the Constitution.” He added that the only reason the administration would go after Kelly—who says soldiers don’t have to obey unlawful orders—is if it intends to enforce those very orders. “If you don’t intend to carry out unlawful orders, why do you care that somebody would say that?” he asked.
Fox News Digital requested a comment from the Department of the Army, while Swalwell’s remarks came on the same day Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego cautioned soldiers that they could face repercussions for backing Kelly. “Donald Trump is going to be gone in a couple of years,” Gallego said. “And if you’re part of the military that is going after sitting senators, sitting members of Congress and part of the weaponization of government, there will be consequences, without a doubt.”
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