As Leah covered last week, the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will get rid of the Pentagon's vaccine mandate. During a Monday night press call, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), addressed how the NDAA which will not merely apply for this upcoming year, but also "a long-term strategy."
Lankford has been a vocal opponent of the vaccine mandate, which he furthered during Monday's call as well, reminding that it "seems silly to just about everybody in the country, because there's hardly an employer left that is requiring COVID vaccines." He added that "the Biden administration has been absolutely obsessed with this issue."
The administration indeed appears to remain obsessed, as last week White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lamented "that it is a mistake" to have repealed the NDAA.
As Lankford reminded, "the religious liberty exemptions on a whole have just not been answered," which is formally referred to as accommodations. Once getting to the commander's desk, these requests for accommodations have just sat there.
Adding insult to injury, as Lankford explained, is that Department of Defense (DOD) has had a balancing test, for nearly two centuries. They've granted religious exemption for Muslim beards and Sikh turbans for instance. When it comes to vaccines, however, Lankford pointed out such accommodation requests "just seem to be hanging out there, and [DOD] can't seem to make a decision," even when it comes to chaplains asking for accommodations.
In pointing to how COVID vaccines and boosters are mostly for elderly individuals and those with co-morbidities, Lankford highlighted how having a mandate for the military is particularly absurd, "as members of our military, obviously, are young and healthy."
While this latest move "finally resolves" issues with requiring COVID vaccinations for recruiting or current active members, there still are details that remain to be seen, such as "specific language on the religious language," Lankford promised a follow-up with the Pentagon, as those looking for religious accommodations have been waiting.
Nearly zero accommodations had been granted by the Pentagon, as Lankford addressed and expressed outrage over in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in January.
Another major issue still to be addressed applies to reparations for ousted military members, though Lankford did acknowledge "obviously this is not over by any means," referencing the omnibus as one option to "confront the DOD."
Reinstating workers with backpay is not unprecedented. In October, the New York Supreme Court ruled that state government workers there who lost their jobs for not receiving the COVID vaccine were not only owed their jobs back, but backpay as well.
Lankford has made his opposition to vaccine mandates known in part through pledging to uphold DOD nominees, and during the call pointed out he has not yet announced on that move, and will have discussions with those at the Pentagon. He'll need to hear about the plans from the Pentagon before making that decision and announcing it, with Lankford emphasizing that military members have gone for far too long without hearing back about their accommodation requests.
"If [DOD leaders] are going to be able to continue to hold them up, and say 'we're going to talk about this for months and months, we're still not going to make a decision,' I'm going to continue to hold nominations," Lankford assured when taking a question.
Holding up DOD nominees is hardly the only way in which Lankford has stood up for members of the military seeking religious accommodations against the vaccine.
A June internal memo from the Pentagon's Inspector General (IG) that was circulated in September came at Lankford's request, showing that there was "potential noncompliance" for how accommodation requests have been handled. Lankford had issued such a request to Acting Inspector General Sean O'Donnell for an audit in February, with the IG announcing in March that the audit would occur.