The preliminary injunction is the latest blow to President Donald Trump's push to target the lawmakers -- whom he at one point accused of "seditious behavior, punishable by death" -- after a federal grand jury rejected the Justice Department's attempts to indict them earlier this week.

"Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees," Judge Richard Leon wrote in his opinion, adding that Kelly's claim "is likely to succeed on the merits."

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth -- one of the defendants in the suit -- said in a post on his personal X account that the decision "will be immediately appealed," adding: "Sedition is sedition, 'Captain.'"

Kelly, a decorated veteran and former astronaut who retired as a Navy captain, had asked the court to declare a censure letter placed in his file as well as efforts to potentially reduce his military rank -- and thus his pension -- to be "unlawful and unconstitutional."

The lawsuit -- which also names the Defense Department, Navy Secretary John Phelan and the department he heads -- said their actions "violate numerous constitutional guarantees and have no basis in statute."

- 'You can refuse' -

Kelly hailed the ruling, saying in a statement that the court "made clear that Pete Hegseth violated the constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said."

"However hard the Trump administration may fight to punish me and silence others, I will fight ten times harder," he added.

In the November video, the lawmakers said Trump's administration was "pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens."

"Right now, the threats to our constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home," they said, adding: "You can refuse illegal orders."

The lawmakers in the video did not specify which orders they were referring to, but the Trump administration has come under fire over its use of US forces both at home and abroad.

Inside the United States, Trump has ordered the National Guard into multiple US cities -- often against the wishes of local officials, who have responded with legal challenges -- claiming the deployments are necessary to maintain order and fight crime.

Outside the country, Trump has ordered a series of strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that have left at least 130 people dead since early September -- actions that experts say amount to extrajudicial killings.

And last month, Trump sent US forces into Venezuela, where they seized then-president Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the United States to face a New York court.