Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson urged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to address the thousands of former service members still fighting for justice after being fired for refusing the COVID vaccine following a Daily Caller News Foundation report.
Johnson requested Hegseth to provide a briefing to his office by August 19 to address a DCNF report covering three lawsuits from legal firm Military Back Pay seeking justice for thousands of service members unjustly terminated or reprimanded under the Biden Pentagon’s vaccine mandate. While President Donald Trump did offer backpay and reinstatement to active-duty members, some members suffered injustices beyond the scope of the Trump administration’s relief or otherwise fell through the cracks and have turned to legal channels instead.
“I respectfully request that you carefully review this article and provide a briefing to my office by August 19, 2025, regarding DoD’s efforts to apologize, reinstate, and provide back pay to the service members who were terminated after refusing to take the COVID-19 injection,” the letter reads, referencing the DCNF’s reporting.
Military Back Pay has three lawsuits against the United States seeking relief for discharges among active-duty service members and the thousands of reservists and National Guardsmen from the service for refusing the vaccine. The law firm estimates that nearly 100,000 total soldiers have been unfairly affected by Biden’s vaccine mandate.
For example, Nick Bassen, the lead plaintiff on Bassen v. United States, was set to retire from his long career in the Army after sustaining a major back injury on deployment in Afghanistan. However, he was summarily discharged after refusing the vaccine, leaving him homeless and jobless, all while taking care of his pregnant wife.
Chris Harkins, lead plaintiff on Harkins v. United States, was ready to retire after a 19-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard when the COVID pandemic hit. After refusing the vaccine on religious grounds, he was denied the exemption and the Coast Guard dismissed him just six months before he would use the leave he saved up before his retirement in 2024.
Bassen and Harkins are only two of the thousands of veterans who had to leave their posts due to the Biden-era mandate.
“Contact Military Back Pay and get in line to make sure that you’re compensated whether you want to rejoin the military or not,” Johnson told the DCNF. “Based on the commitments that President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made to them, they should be compensated.”
Trump’s order to give backpay to veterans discharged over the mandate applies to the roughly 8,000 active duty soldiers that were kicked out, but thousands of other reservists and National Guardsmen are still left reeling from their discharges. Many of the plaintiffs are still seeking damages while not seeking reenlistment, having since moved on with their lives after their service was cut short.
The three lawsuits are still being litigated in court, with two of the cases currently on hold as the courts decide how to move forward given Trump’s order.
The Pentagon said it will be in touch with Johnson and declined to comment further, citing the ongoing nature of the litigation.Â
“We are committed to doing right by those who were affected by the previous administration’s COVID-19 vaccination policy, and will continue to welcoming back these wrongfully separated service members with open arms,” Parnell previously stated in April on the current backpay and reinstatement initiatives.
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