Supreme Court Rules Pentagon Can Stop Deployment of Unvaccinated SEALs
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The Supreme Court granted an emergency request from the Defense Department on Friday, temporarily freezing a lower-court ruling that required the Navy to deploy unvaccinated Navy SEALs.
The high court’s order temporarily blocks part of a January ruling by a federal judge in Texas that prevented the department from considering vaccination status in deployment decisions involving Navy special forces operators who sought a religious exemption.
The federal judge had sided with 26 members of the Navy SEALs and nine other special operations forces personnel who argued they are eligible for a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate because of the First Amendment. The Biden administration argued the lower court ruling usurped the Navy’s authority to deploy the servicemembers and execute missions.
The new order means the Navy can limit deployment and training of the group of SEALs and special operations forces personnel.
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