Senator Mark Kelly

I am humbled and honored to continue serving Arizonans in the U.S. Senate. Now let’s get to work.

Today, a federal court heard arguments in the government's appeal of my case against Pete Hegseth. It was a day in court not just for me, but for millions of retired veterans and our First Amendment rights. I will not back down from this fight.

Here is a quick tour of Node 2 and the US laboratory in the mockup of the @Space_Station at the Johnson Space Center. Not a ton of room in the bedrooms but it is better than where I slept aboard the space shuttle - which was in a bag across the two front seats on the flight deck.

From the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act to legislation like the SAVE Act, we’re seeing an effort to make it harder for Americans to vote. Voting rights are our most fundamental rights as Americans. I’ll never stop fighting to protect them.

Happy National Astronaut Day to all of the folks who have been lucky enough to strap themselves onto a rocket. This year, we celebrate the Artemis II crew. Reid, Victor, Christina, Jeremy, you made us all proud.

Today is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Day. Indigenous women go missing and are murdered at far higher rates than any other group, and their cases go unsolved a lot of the time. Arizona is home to 22 tribal nations, their communities have suffered this injustice for too long. These women deserve better and their families deserve answers.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, folks. I'm the product of a good public education, from kindergarten all the way through the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. I owe a lot to my teachers and education. Say thank you to a teacher today.

America used to be the leader in shipping and shipbuilding. We let that slip away. My SHIPS for America Act is how we get back to it: Great-paying jobs, stronger supply chains, and a fleet worthy of America. ⚓️

A lot of hardworking parents can’t afford to take their family on a vacation or sign their kid up for sports right now — things that their parents’ and grandparents’ generations took for granted. In the richest country in the world, that can’t be our new normal. I’m doing everything I can to bring down costs and make life easier for Arizonans.

I spoke with TSA officers in Arizona who were working without pay. They shared what they were going through, so I introduced a bill to protect the credit scores of federal workers during government shutdowns. They didn't choose to stop getting paid. Their credit score shouldn't suffer because of it.

"No quarter" is a violation of the laws of war and puts American servicemembers at greater risk. I gave Secretary Hegseth a chance to clear up what he meant when he said "no quarter, no mercy" and he refused. As Secretary of Defense, the things he says matter and this is just another reason why he isn't right for this job.

This administration chose a company's profits over the health of kids in Arizona. That's not something I am going to let go. Americans deserve a government that protects them and their health, not corporations' bottom line.

In 2024, China built 1,400 ships. We built five. American’s maritime industry has been neglected for too long, and reviving it will strengthen our country and create great-paying jobs. Read @RepGaramendi’s and my op-ed on why we need to pass the SHIPS for America Act. ⬇️

The cost of living in America has gotten out of control. Groceries, rent, healthcare—all of it. Washington needs to treat it like the emergency it is and actually focus on lowering folks’ bills. That’s what I’m fighting for.

AI is already changing everything. The question now is who benefits. My AI for America plan makes sure it's not just big tech companies. Workers and working families must be part of this new era, not left behind by it.

The First Amendment doesn't have an exception for things the president doesn't like.

Read my response here: wsj.com/opinion/when-s…

I have a bill to protect public education from vouchers that drain money from schools and hurt students. The Wall Street Journal editorial board had a few things to say about that, but here’s what they missed.

I wanted to share a few things on my mind after the horrifying events at the White House Correspondents Dinner over this weekend. An attempt on the president’s life is an awful thing for our democracy. I’m thankful Secret Service and law enforcement responded as quickly as they did before this gunman made it any closer to the president, many of his cabinet members, the press corps, and everyone else in that room. Political violence is a growing problem in our country. It has led to violent acts against Americans and elected officials across the political spectrum. I refuse to accept that this is normal, or that we can’t do anything about it. We have serious disagreements as a country. Some of those disagreements are passionate and personal. For 250 years, we have solved those differences at the ballot box. It’s a big part of what’s great and unique about our form of government. That doesn’t mean we can’t be loud and clear when we think someone has a really bad idea, especially someone with power. That’s what a healthy democracy looks like. We all have the right to speak out about our government. We also all have a moral and patriotic obligation to condemn political violence, no matter if the target is President Donald Trump, State Legislator Melissa Hortman in Minnesota, Charlie Kirk, or anyone else. Here’s how we can turn this around. We talk to each other—in person, away from the social media algorithms that are designed to make us angry and divided. And that’s not just the job of elected officials. Frankly, Washington has a way of making this worse. These conversations start in our neighborhoods, in schools, and at the dinner table. The other thing that has stayed with me is hearing the stories from journalists who were in the room, lying on the ground, texting their loved ones, and fearing for their lives, not yet knowing that the attacker had been stopped. That same experience isn’t unfamiliar to a whole generation of Americans. Far too often, kids are the ones sending those texts to their parents as they hide on the ground in their classrooms during lockdowns because of report of an active shooter, or in the worst instances, a gunman down the hall from or in their classroom. I’ve talked to parents who lost their children to gun violence and will never fully recover, and to kids who are traumatized from losing their friends or witnessing something in a school hallway that I might have seen in war. I know something about that phone call that changes everything. I’ll never forget when my wife, Gabby’s, chief of staff called me on January 8th, 2011, to say Gabby had been shot in the head. That act of violence flipped our world upside down. A week ago, it was family members in Shreveport, Louisiana whose worlds were flipped upside down when eight children were murdered and two others were injured in a shocking act of domestic violence. This was the deadliest mass shooting since January 2024. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children and teens in America. The lax firearms laws that allow criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill to get access to guns makes all of us less safe. It’s just wrong. I refuse to accept that this should be normal in America and can’t be changed. Since Gabby was shot, I’ve already seen change start to happen.  We know the steps we can take to strengthen gun laws while protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. If we do that, and we reject the forces that are trying to divide us, everyone, from the president to our kids, will be safer. These are challenging times, but we’re up for the challenge if we all work on it together.