D.C. Judge Drops Iconic Dylan ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ Lyric in Denying Pete Hegseth’s Attempt to Punish Sen. Mark Kelly

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon dropped a classic Bob Dylan lyric on Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth in denying the former Fox & Friends Weekend host’s attempt to reduce Gulf War and NASA veteran Mark Kelly’s military rank and retirement pay.

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

“This Court has all it needs to conclude that defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” the judge wrote in his scathing opinion according to The Hill. Leon then cited an iconic line from Dylan’s beloved 1965 Billboard Hot 100 No. 39 hit “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” said Leon in quoting the signature line from the song that was the folk bard’s first top 40 hit in the U.S.; according to a 2011 study by a University of Tennessee law professor, Dylan’s lyrics, and specifically the line Leon referenced, are frequently used by judges to make their points in opinions.

Hegseth sought to punish the Arizona Senator over his comments in a 2025 video in which he five Democratic colleagues called on service members to reject unlawful orders from the Trump administration.

While Leon, an appointee of former Republican President George W. Bush, agreed that members of the military have somewhat weaker First Amendment protections than civilians in order to preserve discipline in the armed forces, he said that no court have ever ruled that that lower bar extends to retired service members. Kelly retired from NASA in 2011 after his wife, former Arizona Rep Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head and almost died in an assassination attempt. Before becoming a Senator, Kelly flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War in the early 1990 and then became a Navy test pilot and later commanded four Space Shuttle missions.

Last November, Kelly was one of six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video in which they reminded service members that they have the right to refuse “illegal orders” from their commanders, an action that spurred Pres. Trump to suggest that they were traitors who should be charged with sedition and hanged.

A short time later, the Defense Department announced an investigation after claiming it had received “serious allegations of misconduct” in connection with the video. Self-proclaimed Sec. of War Hegseth then announced that the Pentagon would attempt to strip Kelly of some of his retirement pay and bust down his rank, which led to Kelly suing the DOD over allegations that the action violated his free speech rights.

“To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government,” Leon said. “And our Constitution demands they receive it!” A short time after the ruling, Hegseth wrote on X that the ruling would be “immediately appealed… Sedition is section, ‘captain.’”

According to The Hill, after the ruling, Kelly said the latest legal setback to the Trump administration’s efforts to muzzle its opposition marked a “critical moment” in showing the White House that it cannot keep trying to undermine the freedoms fought for by “Americans like me.”

He added, “I didn’t ask for this fight, but I have been defending the Constitution since I was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. After decades of public service, I can’t think of anything more important I can do for my country than defending the free speech rights of millions of retired veterans and all Americans.” 

At a hearing last week, Kelly’s attorneys argued that Hegseth’s attempt to seek “unprecedented punishment” over the Senator’s protected speech could “extend to every single retired service member in the country.” Judge Leon clearly agreed, writing in his ruling that he could not find a single instance in which free speech restrictions on active-duty service members had ever been extended to retired members and that the stretch to include a sitting member of Congress could have a chilling effect.

“Indeed, if legislators do not feel free to express their views and the views of their constituents without fear of reprisal by the Executive, our representative system of Government cannot function!” the judge wrote.