GOP Puts Pressure on Pentagon for Forcing Military Members Discharged Over Vaccination Status to Repay Bonus

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington on Nov. 3, 2022. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, led a group of 23 lawmakers in a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday, inquiring about the “mistreatment” of troops who are being forced to repay their signing bonuses.

They wrote that Austin bears the “blame” for the military’s current recruitment and retention problems, which endanger national security, citing the recent requirement for repayment from service members who were released from service due to their vaccination status.

Congressional Republicans are demanding an explanation from the Pentagon for severe recruitment and retention issues caused by a number of policies that they claim amount to “mistreatment” of service members.

“From the start, the decision to punish service members for failure to comply with this order was completely misguided and wrong,” the lawmakers said in their letter to Austin.

“At a time when each of the services faces historic recruiting challenges and shortfalls, this is a self-inflicted wound that will jeopardize our national security. The blame for this rests solely on your shoulders.

“As if this were not enough, reports have emerged that service members must now pay back enlistment bonuses and entitlements after their forced separation!”

The letter went on, “To be clear, we completely understand Department policy for those who fail to meet their contractual obligations and agree with this under normal circumstances.

“However, these actions are disingenuous, if not predatory, in this particular instance. With this in mind, we urge you in the strongest terms possible to immediately direct each service secretary to end this practice and stop forcing servicemembers to repay their signing bonuses.”

The letter cited the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which directed the military to end the forced separations, and said the undersigned would “not rest” until the rights of the service members were restored and candidates were given a pathway back to active service.

In a similar move, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who is the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel, sent a separate letter to the secretary of defense saying they hoped to “express our concern over the lack of clarity provided to the Armed Forces and to the American people related to your memorandum announcing the Department of Defense’s (DoD) rescission of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”

The letter contained a series of questions related to the rescission of the COVID vaccine mandate along with the assertion that the Pentagon has failed to provide the committee of elected representatives with adequate responses.