House and Senate Republicans were successful last year in using the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act to force the Biden Pentagon to reverse its COVID mandate, which required all servicemembers to be vaccinated or face being kicked out of the military. More than 8,400 troops were involuntarily kicked out.
Now, Republicans are trying to make sure the Pentagon is following through with the mandate reversal, amid stories that the DOD is still discriminating against unvaccinated troops.
Austin, in a memo rescinding his vaccine mandate, said commanders could still make decisions based on vaccination status, such as deployments, and left it unclear whether the DOD would force out members who did not apply for a religious or medical exemption when the mandate was in effect from August 2021 through January 2023.
“Are potential military recruits required to submit an accommodation request to avoid being forced to receive the COVID vaccine?” Rogers and Banks asked in their letter.