Texas National Guard members stand outside the Texas Capitol during a protest on June 19 over the death of George Floyd in Austin. Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday the state will sue the Biden administration over its mandate requiring Texas National Guard members to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune
In the state’s latest push against federal vaccine mandates, Gov. Greg Abbott is suing the Biden administration for requiring Texas Army National Guard members to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The suit, filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Texas, is the latest in what has been a slew of litigation against federal vaccine mandates that Texas has either brought forth or taken part in during the pandemic. The legal battles include litigation over vaccine mandates for large businesses, health care workers, and federal contractors.
In a letter issued to Maj. Gen. Tracy R. Norris, the adjutant general of the Texas National Guard, Abbott claimed authority to exempt Texas guard members from receiving the vaccine.
“And as long as I am your commander-in-chief, I will not tolerate efforts to compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine,” Abbott wrote. “To the extent the [Department of Defense] vaccine mandate conflicts with the order I have given, my order controls.”
According to the Department of Defense, each state’s National Guard members are under the command of their respective governors, but they can be “federalized” during times of federal emergency, a process that Abbott said has not taken place.
Last year, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III issued a memo calling for mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for members of the armed forces, including the National Guard. Under the mandate, Air National Guard members had until the end of 2021 to receive the vaccine, while Army troops have until June, according to the Department of Defense. Those who refuse to get vaccinated could get their pay or training suspended and could be discharged if they continue to refuse.
Currently, about 90% of Texas Air National Guard are fully vaccinated, with 10% “going through the exemption process,” the Texas Military Department said. The department said on Tuesday it could not provide vaccination numbers for the Texas Army National Guard ahead of its vaccine deadline.
Abbott condemned the federal mandate in a December letter to Austin, and in October he had ordered Norris not to punish Texas National Guard members who refused to get the vaccine.
Abbott’s lawsuit accuses the Biden administration of not following the proper “chain of command” as well as usurping “state-level control” and Abbott’s powers as commander-in-chief of the Texas National Guard.
The Biden administration has maintained that the U.S. secretary of defense still has the power to require vaccines.
“The secretary of defense has the authority to require these vaccines for all members of the force, including the National Guard, as I said, even in a Title 32 status,” said John F. Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, in a statement in November. “When (National Guard members are) called up for their monthly training, they’re still federally funded. So (the secretary) has those authorities. And he believes, and this is a larger point, that vaccinated forces are a more ready force.”
The Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau did not comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.
Recently, a federal court denied a similar lawsuit from Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who challenged the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate.
This story originally published by the Texas Tribune.
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According to a recent study in the Lancet, “fully vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections have peak viral load similar to unvaccinated cases and can transmit infection…” Likewise, “People who get vaccine breakthrough infections can be contagious,” says the CDC. Even more compelling, …“vaccinated individuals still have the potential to infect others. Worse, one CDC report shows that vaccinated people can still be superspreaders. If vaccinated people still get and spread covid with the same viral load as unvaccinated people then vaccinated people should be tested for covid in the same manner as unvaccinated people, correct? Correct. CDC also states, “vaccination is NOT sufficient to prevent transmission of covid virus.” If vaccination is not sufficient to prevent transmission of covid virus, then why are employees being fired for not being vaccinated? An irrational fear of covid doesn’t entitle a workplace to discriminate against persons based on vaccine status. Simply put, there are no compelling or extraordinary reasons to selectively discriminate against unvaccinated people when vaccinated people can still infect others, have similar viral load and be contagious. Therefore, given the absence of logical grounds to continue such discrimination employers should immediately cease and desist such discrimination. A more rational, fair and least restrictive solution would be to provide rapid covid testing for all employees, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, provide free testing at stores, schools and hospitals and require all people to wear masks indoors until there’s ample evidence of herd immunity. The highly transmissible Omicron variant could help countries reach herd immunity as cases continue to rise, health experts say.
"A more rational, fair and least restrictive solution would be to provide rapid covid testing for all employees, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, provide free testing at stores, schools and hospitals and require all people to wear masks indoors until there’s ample evidence of herd immunity."
Okay... you were making sense right up until this point. At every step of the way you were pointing out the irony of a vaccine mandate. But then your solution is to continue to circle the drain on the same nonsense that has done less than nothing to prevent the spread of Rona. All masks have done are divide neighbors and scare our kids.
It's over folks. Nothing has worked. Time to get back to the Real-Normal.