The Navy has begun kicking out sailors who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but the process won’t come with dishonorable discharges, as GOP lawmakers continue to attack the requirement for military members, Politico reported Wednesday.
Overall, 5,731 active-duty sailors remain unvaccinated, and at this point Navy officials say they believe most of those will likely continue to refuse the order, weeks after the Nov. 28 deadline for full vaccination.
"If a sailor gets their shot, we will honor that and make every effort to retain them," Rear Adm. James Waters, the Navy’s director of military personnel plans and policy, told reporters, Politico reported. "On the other hand, those who continue to refuse the vaccine will be required to leave the Navy."
A total of 336,000 sailors are vaccinated. Overall, about 90% of the active-duty military are vaccinated, a number that drops to just 75% when the National Guard and Reserves are factored in, Politico reported.
The announcement comes the same week the Air Force discharged more than two-dozen airmen for refusing the shot.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday pushed back hard against the Department of Defense’s vaccine mandate following the Air Force dismissals.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said President Joe Biden has "little regard for the impact his mandate would have on our military’s readiness."
"The last thing our military needs right now is to be losing servicemen because of an overbearing and unnecessary vaccine mandate that never should have been issued in the first place," he said in a statement Tuesday.
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. — the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee — reiterated his call for the Pentagon to "suspend the vaccine mandate until the Department of Defense can answer basic questions about the impact the mandate will have on the total force."
In a statement Tuesday, Inhofe also invoked a federal judge’s ruling last week that blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors.
"We’re already seeing how the government is backing off enforcement of the mandate for everyone from defense contractors to Amtrak employees — the Department of Defense should likewise hold off on these permanent separations until they at least answer my questions," Inhofe said, Politico reported.
"In the meantime, I am glad the [National Defense Authorization Act] prevents service members from being dishonorably discharged because of this mandate, and I’m eager to see this bill signed into law as soon as the Senate votes to send it to the president," he said.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said in a statement: "It’s shameful that President Biden wants to punish members of our military simply because they are uncomfortable taking a vaccine," Politico reported.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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