Posted on 08/03/2025 1:24:09 PM PDT by george76
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is pressing the Pentagon on its efforts to reinstate military troops fired by the Biden administration for forgoing the Covid shot, the senator revealed Thursday.
In his Tuesday letter, the Wisconsin Republican asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide an update on what the Defense Department is doing to return service members booted for not getting the experimental jab under President Biden.
As The Federalist previously reported, the mandate was announced by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in August 2021, and — while ultimately repealed by Congress — resulted in the dismissal of roughly 8,700 troops from the service. Reporting in recent years and statements issued by Hegseth have called the legality of the mandate into question.
“This dismissal of thousands of brave men and women from the military was a despicable act that damaged our armed forces,” Johnson wrote.
The senator specifically highlighted concerns raised in a recent Daily Caller report, which found that, even though “President Donald Trump is offering backpay and reinstatement for active duty service members, some troops who fell through the cracks are still fighting for their rights.”
Upon taking office, Trump signed an executive order enabling troops kicked out of the service because of the mandate to be reinstated, with the option to “revert to their former rank and receive full back pay, benefits, bonus payments, or compensation.” Hegseth signed a memo expediting the president’s directive in February, and a separate edict in April providing additional guidance to agency officials to fast-track the reinstatement of affected troops.
“We all know that the previous administration issued unlawful orders on mandatory vaccines, on an experimental vaccine — Covid-19,” Hegseth said in an April video message. “We want anyone impacted by that vaccine mandate back into the military — people of conscience, warriors of conscience — back in our formations.”
Citing Hegseth’s prior commitments to follow through on such a task, Johnson said he has “no doubt that [Hegseth is] committed to assisting our service members.” In concluding his letter, the senator requested the defense secretary to “carefully review [the Caller] article and provide a briefing to [his] office by August 19, 2025, regarding DoD’s efforts to apologize, reinstate, and provide back pay to the service members who were terminated after refusing to take the COVID-19 injection.”
Works for me
100% spot on.
With back pay and restore their former “credit rating”...
I like Ron Johnson. Some people are sour on him because he is not the most stalwart conservative. But one has to remember that he represents a very purple state and cut him some slack accordingly.
mRNA jabs kill and disables.
TS doe them.
All of the admirals within the US Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) should be investigated, court-martialed, and kicked the F out.
I have just the man for the job: LtCol (ret) Stuart Scheller, USMC.
The Golden Syringe that Faucichadnezzar had set up.
FUBAR politicians using the Armed Forces at the whipping post.
No way that organization will get my loyalty again.
President Joe Dementia.
The sooner the better.
This opens a door to how the military works even though it was mentally deficient Biden doing the order.
There are going to be times when a direct order is not unlawful, but could be. At the time the order was given there was no determination even of myocarditis and pericarditis being a product of their use. So if no health hazards were determined by the feds, and military people refused to take the shot, and not opt to discharge, then they were subject to Article 15 and ultimately court martial discharge actions not for refusing the take the vaccine, but for refusal of a direct order. There is nothing in the UCMJ that entertains refusal of a vaccine, just refusal of an order. Unless you spend some time in the military, it can be hard to understand how it thinks.
Trump has already determined he will change the situation, but suing the government for back pay that is going to be returned, is not the way our justice system works. You shouldn’t be paid twice.
wy69
Including several of my friends, sadly.
Covid shot this year?
Good idea, just STAY AWAY from mRNA poisons.
I get the Novavax (protein-based) Covid vac every year. No side effects and no covid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.