Trump To Reinstate Military Members Dismissed Over COVID Vaccine
Charlie Kirk Staff
01/27/2025

President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to reinstate service members who were discharged under the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate.
Fox News reported on Monday that Trump intends to sign an executive order allowing those discharged to return to the military at their previous rank, with back pay and benefits.
During President Joe Biden’s tenure, more than 8,000 service members were removed for choosing not to receive the COVID vaccine, the report said.
“The Executive Order directs the Secretary of Defense to reinstate all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged for refusing the COVID vaccine and who request to be reinstated,” a White House fact sheet obtained by Fox News says.
“From 2021 to 2023, the Biden Administration and former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin discharged over 8,000 troops solely due to their COVID-19 vaccination status,” it adds. “After the vaccine mandate was repealed in 2023, only 43 of the more than the 8,000 troops dismissed elected to return to service under the Biden Administration and Secretary Austin.”
During his inaugural speech a week ago, Trump said he would ensure that discharged military members would be reinstated with benefits.
“This week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full back pay,” Trump said shortly after swearing in.
The Biden administration’s military vaccine mandate ended in January 2023 after Republicans in Congress spearheaded an effort to repeal it, which was included in the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The end of President Biden’s military COVID vaccine mandate is a victory for our military and for common sense,” then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said at the time. “Last week, I told the president directly: it’s time to end the COVID vaccine mandate and rehire our service members.”
An effort led by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) to add an amendment to the repeal that would have reinstated service members discharged under the mandate was unsuccessful.
In addition to the military mandate, the Biden administration imposed a vaccine requirement for federal workers and all employers with at least 100 employees, who could opt for weekly testing instead.
However, the vaccine-or-test rule for large businesses was struck down by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision in January 2022, noted the Daily Wire.
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