A White House fact sheet states the move is about “correcting an injustice” made by the Biden administration. Photo courtesy Liberty Counsel

WASHINGTON, D.C. (MPG) – Jan. 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reinstate service members forced out of the military for taking a stand and refusing the experimental COVID shots under the Pentagon’s unlawful and now rescinded mandate. The order states that all service members who are reinstated will be restored to their prior rank and receive full back pay, benefits, bonuses, or compensation.

Under its COVID shot mandate, which was active from August 2021 to January 2023, the Pentagon uniformly denied most of the 36,500 religious accommodation requests it received from troops to abstain from the harmful shot and involuntarily discharged more than 8,300 service members for refusing to take it.

A White House fact sheet states the move is about “correcting an injustice” made by the Biden administration. 

“In spite of the scientific evidence, the Biden administration discharged healthy servicemembers––many of whom had natural immunity had dedicated their entire lives to serving our country––for refusing the COVID vaccine. Government redress of these of these wrongful dismissals is overdue,” read the fact sheet. “Such dismissals likely had a chilling effect on recruitment, with the Department of Defense missing its collective recruiting targets by around 41,000 recruits in FY2023.”

According to the White House, only 43 troops had elected to return to service under the Biden Administration and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

In 2024, President Trump stated, “there should have never been a [COVID vaccine] mandate. That should have never happened.” This move not only fulfills a Trump campaign promise but also a vow from newly confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said during his confirmation hearing that these service members “will be apologized to” and would be “reinstated” and “reinstituted.” 

Liberty Counsel litigated against the Pentagon’s COVID-19 shot mandate in Navy SEAL 1 v. Austin and Colonel Financial Management Officer, et al. v. Austin, and obtained multiple restraining orders and injunctions, including a class-wide injunction, which contributed to the Pentagon abandoning its mandate. Thousands of service members involved with Liberty Counsel’s litigation on behalf of the military had been forced to resign, prematurely retire, or have lost promotions and career opportunities.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “President Trump’s order to restore the many unjustly discharged people from our military is a good first step to restore trust. The Pentagon’s unlawful COVID shot mandate violated constitutional rights, inflicted irreparable harm on many service members, and eroded military readiness at a time when America needs a strong military. Our Armed Forces have a sacred trust to defend our nation, and our service members need to have their own trust that their leaders will never force them to choose between their convictions and service to their country.”