President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to reinstate more than 8,000 members of the U.S. military who were “unjustly discharged” under the Biden-Harris administration for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a Monday press release, the White House explained that Trump’s executive order directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Kristi Noem to “make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who request to be reinstated.”
“The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members,” the White House added in Monday’s press release. “Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received. Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue.”
Trump’s executive order reinstating over 8,000 service members who were fired under President Joe Biden’s controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate will allow service members to receive full back pay and benefits for the length of time they were removed from the military. Service members will also be restored to their former rank under the executive order.
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A fact sheet released Monday by the White House explained that over 8,000 U.S. military troops were discharged between 2021 and 2023 under the Biden-Harris administration and former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “solely due to their COVID-19 vaccination status.” The White House noted that only 43 of the troops discharged over their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine returned to military service after the vaccine mandate was repealed in 2023.
The White House explained that the dismissal of “healthy service members” for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine “likely had a chilling effect on recruitment, with the Department of Defense missing its collective recruiting targets by around 41,000 recruits in FY2023.”
Trump’s executive order comes after the president announced during his inaugural address last week that he would be reinstating the troops discharged under the Biden-Harris administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
During his inaugural address, Trump said, “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.”
