President Donald Trump is poised to deliver on a key campaign promise by signing an executive order on Monday to reinstate thousands of U.S. service members who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The order will impact more than 8,000 active-duty and reserve personnel, restoring them to their previous ranks with full back pay and benefits.
The service members were discharged under the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, which was in effect from 2021 to 2023. The reinstatement fulfills a campaign pledge Trump reaffirmed in his inaugural address last Monday, ensuring that affected personnel receive compensation and return to their prior positions in the military. According to a White House fact sheet, “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.”
“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 read. “After the vaccine mandate was repealed in 2023, only 43 of the more than the 8,000 troops dismissed elected to return to service under the Biden Administration and Secretary Austin.”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 said in his inaugural address, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.” He added, “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.”
Florida Republican congressman and retired Army Ranger Brian Mast, who has long advocated for those affected by the decision to discharge the troops under Biden, praised the move as a “great day for patriots.” In an interview with Fox News, Mast said, “Let’s not forget, you go back in time and this, it wasn’t just the military, it was other government agencies as well where they were washing, essentially conservatives that were raising their hands saying, ‘Hey I don’t want to take this vaccine.’”
“They were washing them out of government—washing them out of West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy. They were washing them out from being at West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy.” Mast said. “They were washing them out from being on the next promotion boards for sergeants, sergeant majors, or officers, and they were creating a system where the ones that were going to be giving promotions to the next class.”
