56 Coast Guard members who refused COVID vaccine reinstated

A group of former U.S. Coast Guard members who were discharged after refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine have been reinstated, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday. 

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said that this group of 56 servicemembers, who were removed under a vaccination requirement imposed by former President Biden in 2021, will receive back pay for the time period they were not allowed to serve. 

“The last administration’s vaccine mandates were unconstitutional, un-American, and a gross violation of personal freedom,” Noem said in a press release. “It was no way to treat the men and women who put everything on the line to keep our country safe.

“President Trump is righting these wrongs and returning those unjustly removed members to service,” she continued. “This decision to reinstate these members of the Coast Guard is a major step in the right direction.”

The department’s decision rests on an executive order issued by Trump over a year ago, which broadly permits military agencies to reinstate any servicemembers who were discharged for refusing to comply with this vaccine mandate. 

A panel from the Coast Guard’s Board for Correction of Military Records moved several weeks ago to retroactively readmit these discharged individuals for the date of their discharge following a recommendation from Noem, according to the DHS press release. 

This decision means that these servicemembers’ military record will no longer display a break in service and they will be entitled to benefits, including back pay and allowances, bonus payments, rank and seniority, according to the Tuesday news release. 

The Biden administration issued this mandate during the height of the pandemic in 2021, adding the COVID-19 vaccine to a list of over a dozen immunizations required for military servicemembers. The government discharged over 8,000 troops — less than 1 percent of the U.S. military — who refused to comply with this requirement. 

Biden lifted the order in 2023 after intense pushback from Republicans and ahead of a Supreme Court case against this immunization requirement. 

When asked for comment, the Coast Guard directed The Hill to DHS.