The story goes on under the ad The order put pending the rulings of a lower court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which had stopped the administration from making such decisions. Attorney General Elizabeth B. Prelogar had asked the Supreme Court to block at least part of the appellate court’s decision, calling it an “extraordinary and unprecedented invasion of key military cases.” This decision “not only prohibits the Navy from applying the COVID-19 vaccination requirement to respondents, but also requires the Navy to instruct and deploy them without regard to the lack of vaccination, despite the military crisis. “This poses unbearable risks to the security and success of the mission,” he wrote. The story goes on under the ad The challengers of the army’s policy are 35 members of the Navy assigned to the Navy Special Warfare Command, including 26 SEALs. The controversy stems from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announcing last year that all members of the military should be vaccinated against coronavirus. All Navy personnel were to receive the first dose of the vaccine or request an exemption by October, and officials said those who had not been vaccinated could be repatriated, even if they had been exempted. A district judge barred the Navy from enforcing the policy, saying the Navy could achieve “herd immunity” even if some members were not vaccinated, and prevented any retaliation against those seeking religious exemptions. The court rejected the Biden government’s request to suspend the part of the order that said installation decisions could not be made under the vaccination regime, and the appellate court also rejected it. Members of the military, represented by the conservative religious law organization First Liberty, said the Navy should not be allowed to discriminate against those seeking religious exclusion. The story goes on under the ad “Evidence shows that prior to these requests, the Navy appointed plaintiffs to their service stations and successfully deployed many of them during the pandemic despite the vaccination regime,” the Supreme Court said in a statement. “But the Navy has not accepted a single request for religious housing for any member of the service, although it has granted hundreds of non-religious exemptions.” He added: “While judges should not assume that they will run the army, neither can the courts turn a blind eye to violations of the Constitution” or federal law. Alito and Gorsuch said they would have allowed the order to remain in force. “By sealing the government’s request for what it calls ‘partial stay’, the Court is very unjust to the 35 respondents – Navy SEALs and others in the Naval Special Warfare community – who volunteered to take on demanding and dangerous duties defending our country,” he wrote. Alito. “These individuals appear to have been mistreated by the Navy and the Court is setting them all aside.” The story goes on under the ad Although compliance with the Pentagon’s requirement is well above 90 percent overall, thousands of service members remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus, awaiting resignation requests. To date, about 2,200 soldiers have been discharged from the army for failing to comply with the order. Only the National Army Guard and the Army Reserve have not yet met their compliance deadlines. These soldiers have until the end of June to take a shot or ask for an exception. The case is Austin vs. US Navy SEALS. Alex Horton contributed to this report.
