Coast Guard Used ‘Digital Tool’ to Aid in Efficiently Denying Vaccine Exemptions, GOP Lawmakers Allege

A member of the U.S. military receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Camp Foster in Ginowan, Japan, on April 28, 2021. Carl Court/Getty Images

Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Oct. 18 sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda L. Fagan to request a briefing on the Coast Guard’s process for reviewing religious accommodation exemption applications to the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The GOP lawmakers said in the letter that they had received information that “indicates that the adjudication process for exemption applications was a pro forma exercise designed to reach predetermined conclusions—to deny requests and appeals—in nearly every single case.”