This bill addresses what happens to military members who were discharged or punished for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. It prevents the Department of Defense from creating a new COVID-19 vaccine mandate without approval from Congress, and it gives military members who were affected by the previous mandate a chance to fix their records and get their jobs back.

If you were kicked out of the military or faced other punishments solely because you refused the COVID-19 vaccine, you can now apply to have your discharge upgraded to an honorable discharge, get reinstated to your old position at your previous rank, or have your record cleared of any mention of the vaccine-related action. You'd also get back any pay or benefits you lost. The bill also says the military must make efforts to keep unvaccinated service members and treat them fairly when it comes to promotions and professional development. The only exception is if a foreign country requires vaccination to enter—then the military can require it for deployment there, but they must offer exemptions for people with natural immunity, health conditions that make vaccination risky, or sincere religious objections.

Basically, this bill gives military members a do-over if they were punished for vaccine refusal, and it prevents the military from enforcing vaccine mandates going forward unless Congress specifically approves a new one.

AMERICANS Act

Cruz, Ted

Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2023 or the AMERICANS Act This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the rescinded vaccine mandate of August 24, 2021, unless the mandate is expressly authorized by Congress. The bill also provides that DOD must establish an application process for remedies for members of the Armed Forces who were discharged or subject to adverse action under the rescinded mandate. Any administrative discharge of a member on the sole basis of a failure to receive a COVID-19 vaccine must be categorized as an honorable discharge, and DOD is prohibited from taking any adverse action against such a member for that reason. Under the bill, DOD must try to retain unvaccinated members and provide such members with professional development, promotion and leadership opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers. Additionally, DOD may only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of members in making certain decisions (e.g., deployments in countries where it is the law) and must establish a process to provide exemptions to certain members for such decisions. This bill applies to all members of the Armed Forces, regardless of whether they sought an accommodation to any DOD COVID-19 vaccination policy.