In January, Congress overturned the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Now Congressmen Mike Rogers, Chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee (HASC), and Jim Banks, the Chairman of the HASC Subcommittee on Military Personnel, have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking answers on the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on servicemembers.
Rogers and Banks expressed their displeasure that the Department of Defense has been slow to respond to HASC committee inquiries.
“A letter of December 23, 2022, requested ‘your plan to implement this statutory requirement.’ Your four-sentence reply to the letter on January 26, 2023, failed to include any implementation plan,” Rogers and Banks wrote. “Additionally, staff has repeatedly asked for answers to many COVID-19 rescission questions critically important to the retention and recruitment of men and women in each of the armed services.”
“We write to express our concern over the lack of clarity provided to the Armed Forces and to the American people related to your memorandum announcing the Department of Defense’s (DoD) rescission of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” Rogers and Banks continued. “While we acknowledge and appreciate your rescission memorandum writ large, many questions remain and have gone unanswered regarding the implementation of the rescission.”
The Congressmen have asked for answers to a series of questions:
· The COVID-19 rescission implementation plan, including implementing guidance and responsibilities within the Department of Defense and the Military Departments
· The COVID-19 rescission strategic communication plan to the Armed Forces
· The number of discharges that occurred between the signing of the NDAA and the time of your rescission directive
· The treatment of potential recruits and accessions who have not taken the COVID-19 vaccine
· The effect of the COVID-19 rescission on civilian personnel, including any changes to the current travel policy
· The number of discharges for the roughly 6000 Active Component servicemembers and 2000 Reserve Component servicemembers separated because of the mandate, broken down by rank, years of service, and date separated (as well as their discharge characterization)
· The number of servicemembers required to pay back bonuses, the average amount to be repaid, and the amount already repaid
· Whether DoD policy still requires repayments of bonuses
· The number of National Guard members prevented from drilling because of the mandate, including the number of drills missed and amount of time they were prevented from drilling
· Reasons why DoD stopped reviewing accommodation of requests from servicemembers who sought vaccination exemptions
· Whether service academies have fully removed vaccine mandates for students and faculty
· Whether any students at the service academies were refused diplomas due to failing to abide by the prior vaccine mandate, and if so, whether the academies will be making these students whole by providing diplomas and clear student records upon or following graduation
· Whether DoD has reinstated any servicemembers forced out for failure to abide by the vaccine mandate, and DoD’s plan for ensuring that reinstatement is offered to any separated servicemembers; and,
Austin has issued a memorandum overturning the mandate following passage of a National Defense Authorization Act requiring him to do so. The rescission mandate written states, “no individuals currently serving in the Armed Forces shall be separated solely on the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an accommodation on religious, administrative, or medical grounds.”
The wording of this memorandum prompted more specific questions from Rogers and Banks:
· Does this directive of your rescission memorandum mean that unless servicemembers submit an accommodation request, they are still required to receive the COVID vaccination?
· Are potential military recruits required to submit an accommodation request to avoid being forced to receive the COVID vaccine?
Rogers and Banks are requesting that the Department of Defense provide answers to these questions to the Committee no later than February 21, 2023.
“Answers to these questions are crucial for Congress to fulfill its appropriate oversight responsibilities and provide any required legislative relief,” Rogers and Banks wrote. “Please note, many of the questions or requests for information presented above have gone unanswered for weeks, if not months. The Department and the Biden Administration must no longer refuse to respond to requests for information from this Committee.”
The Committee on Armed Services has oversight jurisdiction over the Department of Defense.
Many members of the military have expressed concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine. Despite this vaccine hesitancy, Austin, at the direction of President Joe Biden, instituted a blanket mandate requiring service members, Department of Defense civilian employees, and even all the employees of defense contractors receive the vaccine. Some members of Congress have suggested that the mandate has adversely affected morale and led to the forced separation of many soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
Mike Rogers was recently elected to his eleventh term representing Alabama’s Third Congressional District.
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