Defense bill orders Pentagon to review reinstatement of troops fired for COVID-19 refusal

Congress, in a draft version of the annual defense bill, has directed the Pentagon to review the reinstatement of U.S. troops who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

The provision is included in the compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), reached by negotiators in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House and released Thursday.

The NDAA orders the Defense Department to consider reinstatement at the request of a service member who was discharged and, if reinstated, should define the period of the individual’s time away from service as a period of inactivation.

The Senate added a secondary provision that requires those seeking reinstatement to have before submitted a request for a religious, administrative or medical exemption.

Lawmakers also included an amendment to create an investigatory board that will review cases of service members who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

Other amendments require the Pentagon to communicate the path to be reinstated to COVID-related discharged troops and the Defense Department to conduct a study of potential health consequences to service members who got the vaccine.

The COVID-19 provisions were a priority for House Republicans, who had pushed back against American troops being let go for refusing the vaccine.

Last year’s NDAA forced the Pentagon to rescind a COVID-19 vaccine mandate that had been in place but did not touch on reinstatement, setting up this year’s clash.

The mandate had covered the entire armed forces, including the National Guard and Reserve, and troops who did not comply faced a range of punishments, including a loss of days accrued toward retirement, loss of pay and dismissal.