Coast Guardsmen Denied Religious Exemptions From COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Sue Biden Administration

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attends the Ukraine Defense Contact group meeting ahead of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, on June 15, 2022. Yves Herman/Pool via Reuters

Guardsmen denied religious exemptions to the Coast Guard’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate are suing the force, alleging the denials violate federal law.

Three Guard personnel who are Christians are leading the class-action complaint against the force, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and the Department of Homeland Security after their religious exemption requests were denied even though chaplains said each plaintiff held sincere religious objections to getting a COVID-19 vaccine.