Several people at the Defense Department have been temporarily suspended from their jobs and dozens of online posts were under review, service officials said Wednesday, as the U.S. military scrambled to act on Secretary Pete Hegseth’s demand to punish anyone allegedly celebrating the death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
It’s not clear whether the ongoing reviews by the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps will result in more than a few people briefly suspended of their duties with pay because of the legal complexities involved and First Amendment rights.
Any resulting court case within the Defense Department’s own legal system could result in counter lawsuits, which could drag on for months.
In general, uniformed military personnel are allowed to express their political opinions so long as they do so using their personal accounts and in their own capacity, on their personal time and not in uniform.
But both uniformed and civilian personnel are subject to social media standards outlined by the services, which prohibit bad online behavior such as bullying, discrimination and harassment.
They also are prohibited from engaging in social media that promotes or endorses extremist activities — a policy pushed during the Biden administration to address concerns about extremism within the ranks following the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
“Commanders at all levels shall not tolerate online social media conduct that violates the law or fails to live up to our core values,” wrote Air Force Secretary Troy Meink in a new all-hands memo released to personnel on Wednesday.
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In the hours following Kirk’s death, Hegseth’s top aides suggested that anyone working for the military who mocked or celebrated Kirk’s death would face criminal charges under the military’s own legal system.
In posts on X, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said such online posts violate a person’s oath of military service and can result in charges under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ, while Hegseth said he’d be tracking the cases “very closely.”
Alex Brandon/AP – PHOTO: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens to President Donald Trump speak as he signs an order sending National Guard to Memphis in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, September 15, 2025.
“It’s a violation of the oath, conduct unbecoming, it’s a betrayal of the Americans they’ve sworn to protect & dangerously incompatible with military service,” Parnell wrote.
Parnell declined to answer several questions about how the standard would be applied, including whether posts unrelated to Kirk but referencing other acts of political violence would prompt a review.
“Every service member and civilian at the Department takes an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Those in our ranks who rejoice at an act of domestic terrorism are unfit to serve the American people at the Department of War,” he wrote.
When asked how many cases Hegseth’s office has tracked so far, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson on Wednesday referred questions to the individual services. Service officials contacted by ABC News said Hegseth hadn’t issued any new directive or policy and that they were mostly looking at whether posts reported to commanders had violated existing social media protocols.
One Army official said “numerous people” have been suspended pending investigation and that “dozens” of social media posts are under review. Another defense official said one Marine been suspended pending investigation and a small number of other cases involving Marine Corps personnel were under review.
In each of those cases, the person would still receive pay while their case plays out, officials said.
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The Air Force and Navy declined to say how many posts were under investigation and whether anyone had been put on leave.
The Navy said only that it was “actively reviewing reports related to Sailors’ social media activity that is misaligned with the Department’s current social media guidance.”
“Service members are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice at all times, including behavior conducted in the digital space. Sailors are expected to uphold Navy core values on duty, off duty, and online,” according to a Navy statement.
An Air Force spokesperson said that “as commanders verify inappropriate actions, they are taking the necessary administrative and disciplinary actions to hold service members accountable.”
In his memo to all personnel, the Air Force’s Meink said there was “no room for ambiguity” and called for “full compliance with all laws and regulations governing speech and political action.”
“Airman and guardians are personally responsible for what they say and do, and this includes social media. You must avoid any social media posts that unlawfully attack or demean a person or group based on characteristics such as race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, or political beliefs,” he wrote.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
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