Republicans of the House Armed Services Committee want answers from the Department of Defense about the continuing COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members.
In a letter addressed to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the members of Congress want to know why the vaccine mandate would still be in effect after President Biden said the “pandemic is over.”
The letter, first obtained by Fox News Digital, was led by U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks), the lead Republican on the HASC. Rogers was joined by other Republicans on the committee, including Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Mobile).
See the letter here: https://t.co/g1iePkBQVP pic.twitter.com/1lTK16bpEH
— Armed Services GOP (@HASCRepublicans) October 3, 2022
“Pandemic restrictions have been lifted across the country and state and federal courts have enjoined enforcement of employment-based vaccine mandates,” said the letter. “It is our understanding that members of the Armed Forces are now one of only a few groups in the Executive Branch still subject to termination for failure to take the vaccine.”
They also highlighted some of the cases currently challenging the mandate in the courts.
“We note there are roughly 48 pending court cases against President Biden, yourself, or other senior Department of Defense leaders,” the letter said. “Virtually all of these are challenging the vaccine mandate imposed through your memoranda against servicemembers or contractors. A number of these have caused uncertainty regarding the long-term status of affected servicemembers.”
The committee Republicans are requesting a summary review of litigation against DoD for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate; an assessment of how the COVID-19 vaccine mandate is impacting recruitment and retention in the Armed Forces, as well as what consideration is being made to offer “reinstatement” to those service members who were separated because of a refusal to take the COVID vaccine; and actions taken to address the flawed COVID-19 religious accommodation process.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
