Trump To Reinstate Service Members Kicked Out For Not Taking Covid Vaccine
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order to reinstate service members booted from the military for declining to get COVID-19 vaccine jabs, according to the White House.
“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,” according to the White House fact sheet.
The service members who are reinstated will be restored to their prior rank, and will be provided back pay and benefits. “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,” the fact sheet notes.
“After the vaccine mandate was repealed in 2023, only 43 of the more than the 8,000 troops dismissed elected to return to service under the Biden Administration and Secretary Austin.”
Trump had pledged to take this action during his inauguration speech. During a campaign speech last year, Trump promised to rehire service members who were dismissed over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying they would get back pay plus an apology from the government.
This is one of many examples of the Trump administration taking action that counters what they believed to be political targeting from the Biden administration.