BREAKING UPDATE: Federal Court Issues Stay Against Vaccine Mandate for Navy SEALs

(Washington, D.C.) – Yesterday, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a Preliminary Injunction against Biden’s federal vaccine mandate for Navy SEALs who were seeking a religious exemption.

Judge Reed O’Connor, the U.S. District Court Judge presiding over the case stated: “The Navy service members in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect. The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. There is no COVID-19 exemption to the First Amendment… and there is no military exclusion from our Constitution.”

America First Policy Institute’s Constitutional Litigation Partnership supported this case, brought on by First Liberty, by filing an Amicus Curiae in support of the service members.

The court’s order can be read here.

Statement from The Honorable Pam Bondi, Chair of AFPI’s Constitutional Litigation Partnership:

“The opinion issued in this case is a victory for our Constitution, our active-duty military members, and our institutions. It is our responsibility to protect our servicemen and women from this outrageous mandate that was set in place by their own Commander in Chief. No American, especially our service members, should be required to choose between violating their religious beliefs and serving our country.”

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The America First Policy Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan research institute dedicated to the ad­vancement of policies that put the American people first. Its guiding principles are liberty, free enterprise, the rule of law, America-First for­eign policy, and a belief that American workers, families, and communities are the key to the success of our country.