At least one person in Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-Ariz.) orbit recently joked that his office should send the Trump administration a gift basket when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon would open a misconduct review into the Arizona Democrat.

The investigation, over a video Kelly filmed in the fall with other Democratic members of Congress calling on members of the armed forces to not follow illegal orders at the height of the controversy around the administration’s Caribbean boat strikes, could result in Kelly losing his rank.

But it has also elevated Kelly’s national profile, turning the senator into a household name in military and Democratic circles while positioning him as a rising figure unafraid to speak out against Hegseth at the Pentagon, and President Trump more broadly.  

Trump described the video as “seditious behavior, punishable by death,” while Hegseth just last week said the Pentagon has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings that could reduce Kelly’s rank and pay.

Both have leaned into the fight, suggesting they see it as political gold in MAGA circles and beyond.

But it’s also been a winner for Kelly, and those in his inner circle said the senator’s immediate reaction was, as one person put it, “No f‑‑‑ing way are you going to freak me out. We’re in the right, and this does not scare me.”

The 61-year-old Kelly is a Navy pilot who flew 39 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. He’s traveled to space four times and sat by the bedside of his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), while she recovered from a bullet wound to the head after a 2011 shooting at a meet-and-greet with constituents outside a Tucson, Ariz., supermarket.

Since the battle with Hegseth and Trump, Kelly, the son of two police officers, has received death threats and has hired security, those close to him say. 

He has also refused to back down.

“He is not intimidating me, and he’s not going to,” Kelly told Vanity Fair in an interview last month, speaking about Trump. “I have been through, you know, harder things than this.” 

Kelly was a top vice presidential candidate in 2024 when former Vice President Kamala Harris was making her picks, losing out to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). The runner-up was Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).

But some think Kelly could look good at the top of the ticket in 2028.

Kelly isn’t dissuading people from talking about his presidential prospects. In an interview this month, the senator said he has considered running for president in 2028. 

“Of course,” he told content creator Aaron Parnas. “I think it would be irresponsible not to think about it.” 

If he does choose to run, he has begun to lay the groundwork since the tussle with the administration began in November. He has done more media recently than he ever has, appearing on shows including ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and earlier this month, “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart. 

And allies say they don’t expect Kelly to relent. 

“I was surprised at the administration’s decision to instill fear and to deter Mark Kelly from using his voice because if you know anything about Mark, you know that he is not a fearful person,” said Jen Bluestein, a consultant who has known the senator and Giffords for years. “And they’re sure giving Mark an opportunity to introduce himself to people who had not known much about him before.”

Those close to Kelly insist he never intended to run for public office. Giffords was the politician in the family. But after former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) died, Kelly decided to run in the 2020 special election for his seat. He won and then won again in 2022 for a full term. 

In her book, “107 Days,” Harris — who met with Kelly in the final round of interviews while considering a running mate — called Kelly “magnetic. 

But she said she was worried he hadn’t had what she called an ”’oh s—’ moment” during his time in the Senate. 

“I realized I couldn’t afford to test Mark Kelly in that ugly grinder,” Harris wrote. 

Recently, amid Kelly’s back-and-forth with the Trump administration, his allies have come back to this remark.

“If there was any skepticism of him having a moment, or needing a moment, well here’s another moment,” said Raquel Terán, a former Arizona state senator and community organizer. “This man is someone who has always met the moment.”

When Kelly appeared in the video in November, along with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) — a former CIA analyst — and the other members of Congress, those around him say his only intent as a veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee was to underscore that U.S. troops can refuse illegal orders.

Few would have predicted the size of the Trump-Hegseth backlash to the video, and to Kelly specifically.

Mike Noble, the prominent nonpartisan pollster in Arizona and founder of Noble Predictive Insights, who conducts surveys on elected officials in the state every quarter, told The Hill that Kelly’s numbers have been trending upward not just among Democrats, but he has seen a significant bump among independents on his job approval. 

“This has been good for him,” Noble said. “It’s a fight he wants to have.”

In August, for example, 43 percent of independents in the state approved of Kelly’s job performance, while 35 percent disapproved. Last month, a few weeks after the beginning of his feud with Hegseth feud, 52 percent of independents approved of Kelly’s performance, while 31 percent disapproved. 

Kelly’s approval rating fell slightly with Republicans, however, Noble said. 

In August, 34 percent of Republicans approved of Kelly’s job performance, while 59 percent disapproved. Last month, 30 percent approved of the senator’s performance and 58 percent disapproved. 

Perhaps as a result, Republicans aren’t sweating the Kelly groundswell among Democrats.

While GOP consultant Brian Seitchik, who is based in Arizona, said Kelly’s spat with the administration is “catnip” for Democrats, he doesn’t see it translating in a presidential race. 

“I don’t think he has the charisma to successfully run for president in modern times,” he said. “Objectively, he did not perform real well on the stump. He’s a bright guy. He’s got a great story, but he does not electrify a crowd.” 

But Democrats say the senator is winning this battle.

“The advantage goes to Kelly on this,” said Matt Grodsky, a strategist based in Phoenix. “When you’re attacking a veteran who is experienced and is a good communicator who people have gotten to know and trust, you’re losing the narrative a little bit.”