Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt joins 21 state attorneys general yesterday in filing a brief in the 5th Circuit US Court of Appeals in support of a group of Navy SEALS who are seeking exemptions from President Joe Biden’s administration’s vaccine mandate on the grounds that it violates their deeply held religious beliefs. The Biden administration has responded by saying the military should be forced to comply with the vaccine mandate, even overriding fundamental freedoms.
Schmidt says he won’t stop fighting to protect the jobs and liberties of Kansans, especially the men and women serving in the armed forces.
According to U.S. Department of Defense data, of 105,277 reported COVID cases within the U.S. Navy, only 17 deaths and one hospitalization have occurred. Yet only 47 religious accommodation requests have been approved and 4,251 requests remain pending.
Schmidt has previously obtained federal court injunctions blocking the OSHA vaccine mandate for private employers, the federal contractor vaccine mandate, and the Head Start vaccine and mask mandate.
