A federal judge on Tuesday ruled against a challenge to the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying that the claims made by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, and his co-plaintiffs are without merit.

What You Need To Know

  • A federal judge on Tuesday ruled against a challenge to the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate mounted by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican and a vocal opponent of vaccine mandates

  • The vaccine mandate to which the governor objects is the one — in addition to the nine that already apply to all service members — intended to protect service members from the virus which has, in less than two years, killed more Americans than have been killed in action in all of the wars the United States has ever fought,” Friot wrote in his ruling

  • Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that a COVID-19 vaccine mandate is essential to maintain military readiness

  • Tuesday’s victory is a major win for the Biden Administration, which has seen numerous challenges, many of them successful, to the various vaccine requirements they have attempted to enact

Judge Stephen P. Friot, a district court judge appointed by former President George W. Bush, sided with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who has said that a COVID-19 vaccine mandate is essential to maintain military readiness.

“The vaccine mandate to which the governor objects is the one — in addition to the nine that already apply to all service members — intended to protect service members from the virus which has, in less than two years, killed more Americans than have been killed in action in all of the wars the United States has ever fought,” Friot wrote in his ruling. “The court is required to decide the case on the basis of federal law, not common sense. But, either way, the result would be the same.”

“It is unmistakably clear that the intent of Congress.” Friot wrote, “is that the Guard and its members will at all events be prepared, conformably to federal military standards, to be ordered into federal service … on little or no notice.”

Tuesday’s victory is a major win for the Biden Administration, which has seen numerous challenges, many of them successful, to the various vaccine requirements they have attempted to enact. The Supreme Court in early January will hear oral arguments in challenges to Biden’s vaccine or test requirements for large employers and health care workers.

Before filling the lawsuit, Gov. Stitt, an outspoken critic of vaccine mandates, had asked Secretary Austin in a letter to suspend the mandate for National Guard members in his state, arguing the “mandate violates the personal freedoms of many Oklahomans.”

In a reply, Austin said that “the concerns raised in your letter do not negate the need for this important military readiness requirement.”

“All members of the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guard, regardless of duty status, must follow the directions of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force, respectively, for specific COVID-19 vaccine compliance deadlines and requirements,” Austin wrote.

Friot noted in his ruling that 89% of the airmen in the National Guard have been vaccinated, but only 40% of Army guardsman have been vaccinated.

The deadline for the Air National Guard was extended to Dec. 31 last week, but the deadline is in June for the Army National Guard.