Lankford Follows Up with Navy to Protect Sailors from Biden’s Vaccine Mandate

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) sent a follow-up letter today to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro in response to a Navy Administrative Separation Board that voted not to dismiss a sailor for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to urge the Navy to apply the decision branch-wide. Lankford previously requested that they allow sailors separated from the US Navy who decided not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who were not granted a religious accommodation to return to service after a court’s preliminary injunction blocked the Navy from continuing to separate sailors who were denied religious accommodation requests. Lankford’s follow-up letter comes after a Navy Administrative Separation Board unanimously voted on May 20^th that the Sailor did not commit misconduct by refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and should not be dismissed on those grounds.

Lankford wrote in his letter, “As you are aware, on May 20, a Navy Administrative Separation Board voted unanimously that Lt. Bill Moseley did not commit misconduct by refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, and should not be dismissed on those grounds. The Board’s decision makes clear what the law holds and what I have reiterated to you previously—service members do not have to sacrifice their religious beliefs in order to serve our country… Now that the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit is rightly preventing the Navy from applying its previous misguided policy of separating sailors who were denied religious accommodation requests, the Navy should apply the same standard established in Lt. Moseley’s case to all service members, who request a religious accommodation. Refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious or moral grounds is not misconduct and does not warrant dismissal. I urge you to take immediate action to apply this precedent and equitable standard to all service members that have requested a religious accommodation to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”

Lankford continues to defend service members against Biden’s vaccine mandate. He recently joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and 12 of their colleagues to introduce the Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots (AMERICANS) Act of 2022. The bill counters the Biden Administration’s efforts to coerce and punish service members who decline the COVID-19 vaccine and introduces accountability measures in response to DOD efforts to undermine transparency.

Lankford introduced the COVID-19 Vaccine Dishonorable Discharge Prevention Act to prohibit the Department of Defense from giving service members a dishonorable discharge for choosing not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, which was ultimately solidified in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which Lankford supported and was signed into law. 

Regarding religious accommodations for service members, Lankford previously sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding to know why, despite 19,979 known requests for religious accommodations from the COVID-19 vaccine, the Department had granted nearly zero religious accommodations among the service branches. The letter requested a response by February 1. When he did not receive a timely response, Lankford requested that the Acting Department of Defense (DOD) Inspector General Sean O’Donnell conduct an audit of DOD’s COVID-19 vaccine exemption process, and the IG responded 10 days later that an audit would be conducted.

Lankford was joined by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and their colleagues to send a letter to Secretary Austin asking him to provide information on the number and nature of military discharges for not receiving a COVID vaccine.

You can read the full letter HERE and below:

Dear Secretary Austin and Secretary Del Toro:

I am writing to urge you to apply the precedent established by the Administrative Separation Board in Navy Lt. Bill Moseley’s religious accommodation case to all service members requesting a religious accommodation.

As you are aware, on May 20, a Navy Administrative Separation Board voted unanimously that Lt. Bill Moseley did not commit misconduct by refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, and should not be dismissed on those grounds. The Board’s decision makes clear what the law holds and what I have reiterated to you previously—service members do not have to sacrifice their religious beliefs in order to serve our country.

In recent days, the US Navy paused efforts to separate and discipline sailors refusing the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious objections. Specifically, NAVADMIN 083/22 “suspends separation processing and adverse administrative consequences of COVID-19 vaccine refusal for Navy service members who submitted requests for religious accommodation from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.” This new guidance followed District Judge O’Connor’s decision to allow the lawsuit brought by 35 sailors refusing inoculation on religious grounds to move forward as a class action lawsuit.

Now that the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit is rightly preventing the Navy from applying its previous misguided policy of separating sailors who were denied religious accommodation requests, the Navy should apply the same standard established in Lt. Moseley’s case to all service members, who request a religious accommodation. Refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious or moral grounds is not misconduct and does not warrant dismissal.

I urge you to take immediate action to apply this precedent and equitable standard to all service members that have requested a religious accommodation to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Further, as I previously requested from you this month, I also encourage you to reinstate the service members who have been separated from the Navy, as well as other branches of the Department of Defense, for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds. Similarly, I strongly urge the Department to apply this common-sense precedent to all such service members upon their return.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

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