Nearly 22,000 DHS Employees Seek COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Exemptions

Watchdog urges government to resolve requests

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Los Angeles on June 10, 2022. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Nearly 22,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees have sought exemptions to the U.S. government’s federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but the requests all remain in limbo, according to newly obtained documents.

Key agencies within DHS could face a massive loss of workers if the requests aren’t resolved, a watchdog warns.