\n Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday called for Sen. Mark Kelly to be investigated over comments he made about US weapon stockpiles, marking the second time the Pentagon chief has opened a review into the Democratic senator.\n <\/p>\n
\n Hegseth slammed the retired Navy captain and former astronaut for expressing concern on CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d over US weapons stockpiles amid the Iran war, saying Kelly was \u201cblabbing on TV\u201d about a classified Pentagon briefing.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cDid he violate his oath\u2026again? @DeptofWar legal counsel will review,\u201d Hegseth posted<\/a> on social media Sunday evening.\n <\/p>\n \n Kelly said earlier Sunday that following briefings by the Pentagon on munitions, including Tomahawks, ATACMS and Patriot rounds, he found it \u201cshocking how deep we have gone into these magazines.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe\u2019ve expended a lot of munitions. And that means the American people are less safe. Whether it\u2019s a conflict in the western Pacific with China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted,\u201d Kelly, who sits on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, told CBS News\u2019 Margaret Brennan.\n <\/p>\n \n Kelly responded to Hegseth\u2019s post with a video of the pair<\/a> at a recent Senate hearing. \u201cWe had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take \u2018years\u2019 to replenish some of these stockpiles. That\u2019s not classified, it\u2019s a quote from you,\u201d Kelly posted, adding that the \u201cwar is coming at a serious cost.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n CNN has reached out to Kelly\u2019s office for additional comment. The Pentagon, when asked for comment, referred CNN to Hegseth\u2019s post.\n <\/p>\n \n Hegseth\u2019s call to investigate the Arizona senator for a second time comes days after a federal appeals court appeared<\/a> ready to reject the defense secretary\u2019s effort to punish Kelly over his call to US service members to refuse illegal orders.\n <\/p>\n \n The call, which came in a November video posted by Kelly and five other Democrats with a history of military or intelligence service, drew the ire of both Hegseth and President Donald Trump.\n <\/p>\n \n Kelly sued Hegseth in January after the defense secretary announced the Pentagon would pursue administrative action against the Arizona senator, including reducing his last military rank \u2014 which would lower the pay he receives as a retired Navy captain \u2014 and issuing a letter of censure.\n <\/p>\n \n A majority of judges on a three-member panel at the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals last week threw cold water on arguments pushed by the Justice Department to revive Hegseth\u2019s plans, which were shut down earlier this year<\/a> by a federal judge who said they were unconstitutionally retaliatory.\n <\/p>\n \n Kelly\u2019s comments on weapons stockpiles come more than two months into the US\u2019 war with Iran. CNN previously reported<\/a> that the US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war and created a \u201cnear-term risk\u201d of running out of ammunition in a future conflict should one arise in the next few years, according to experts and three people familiar with recent internal Defense Department stockpile assessments.\n <\/p>\n \n As of April 21, the US military expended at least 45% of its stockpile of Precision Strike Missiles; at least half of its inventory of THAAD missiles, which are designed to intercept ballistic missiles; and nearly 50% of its stockpile of Patriot air defense interceptor missiles, according to an analysis<\/a> conducted last month by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Those numbers closely align with classified Pentagon data about US stockpiles, according to the sources familiar with the assessment.\n <\/p>\n \n This story has been updated with additional information.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday called for Sen. 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