Troops risk court-martial if they follow Democrats’ ‘illegal orders’ advice, former military lawyers warn

President Donald Trump said the Democratic senators’ viral video urging service members to "refuse illegal orders" should be "punishable by death," intensifying outrage across the political spectrum — and confusion about what that advice could actually mean under federal law.While the lawmakers behind the video — led by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and joined by Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and several Democratic House veterans and intelligence officers — framed the appeal as a defense of the Constitution, military legal codes make clear that refusing orders, even ones a service member personal