Sen. Lindsey Graham wants specifics from a group of congressional Democrats on what orders from the Trump administration they feel are illegal after a viral video featured them urging service members to "refuse illegal orders." (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
They reiterated the lines, "You can refuse illegal orders," or "You must refuse illegal orders," as they went on to charge that service members do not have to carry out orders from higher-ups that they believe violate the Constitution.
Notably, none of the lawmakers dove into which orders they believed were illegal in the video.
Graham, who served three decades in the Air Force and worked as an Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG), wrote in six letters to each of the lawmakers that he took "the issue of unlawful orders very seriously."
"I cannot find a single example of an illegal order during this administration, but as a Member of Congress, I believe you owe it to the country to be specific as to which orders you believe are unlawful," Graham said.
SEN BLACKBURN FIRES BACK AT DEMOCRATS OVER ‘DISTURBING’ VIDEO URGING TROOPS TO DEFY 'ILLEGAL' ORDERS
President Donald Trump meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office on Nov. 17, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
Members of the military have an obligation to follow lawful orders from their superiors, but they can ignore orders deemed illegal, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice — the standardized military justice system enacted in 1951.
When asked to get into specifics, Slotkin’s office pointed Fox News Digital to an interview the senator had with TMZ, where she explained that the video was made in response to service members "reaching out to us saying, ‘I don't know what to do if the commander in chief orders me to do something that is illegal.’"
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Slotkin, who was a CIA officer, said service members aren’t "trained in police techniques. They're not trained in arresting, detaining American citizens, crowd control, raids on homes, and they were worried that they could be asked to do those things, that protests could get bad in a place like Chicago, and they could be asked to do these things."
Fox News Digital reached out for comment from Kelly, Crow, Houlahan, Goodlander and Deluzio but did not immediately hear back.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/graham-demands-democrats-explain-refuse-illegal-orders-message-troops