Defense

Pentagon Tries To Block Unvaccinated SEALs From Being Deployed By Asking The Supreme Court

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Alexander Pease Contributor
Font Size:

Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Lloyd Austin requested the Supreme Court on Monday to block a lower federal court ruling granting Navy SEALs unvaccinated for religious reasons the ability to deploy.

The late February order by a federal Texas judge permitting SEALs the right to opt out of getting the shot via a religious exemption is an “extraordinary and unprecedented intrusion into core military affairs,” according to Austin’s SCOTUS filing.

Austin argued that the order “usurps the Navy’s authority to decide when service-members should be deployed to execute some of the military’s most sensitive and dangerous missions,” in the court documents.

The Texas judge’s order came after 35 SEALs sued President Joe Biden and the DOD to be able to opt out of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate by citing religious reasons. The SEALs were successful, and the Biden administration appealed, aiming to re-impose the mandate.

That appeal by the federal government failed and was blocked by the 5th Circuit.

William K. Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, claimed that one member getting COVID-19 poses a remarkable risk to everyday operations, according to the court filing.

One unvaccinated SEAL is currently going to be deployed on assignment on a submarine mission, as pointed out in the DOD court documents.