Tom Barrett
06/02/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/02/2026 13:23
Barrett Bill Lays Groundwork To Restore Benefits For Service Members Forced Out By COVID Mandate
Washington, D.C. - Last week, Congressman Tom Barrett (MI-07) introduced the COVID-19 Military Mandate Transparency Act (H.R. 9046) to begin the process of restoring benefits for service members forced into retirement over the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Specifically, the bill would require the Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct a study on veterans who were forced to retire early or leave the military for refusing the COVID vaccine and require the department to make their findings publicly available online.
"No one who put on the uniform to defend freedom and keep Americans safe from harm should ever have been threatened with a dishonorable discharge for refusing to comply with President Biden's misguided COVID-19 vaccine mandate," said Barrett. "But that's exactly what happened, and it forced an unknown number of my brothers and sisters in arms to retire early and lose out on the benefits they earned. I'm on a mission to right this injustice for every service member who was forced to choose between their career and compromising their values."
Currently, a service member may be eligible to transfer their unused GI Bill benefits to their spouse or children if they agree to serve an additional four years in the Armed Forces. However, thousands of service members who made that commitment lost their ability to fulfill it when they were involuntarily separated or pressured into retirement for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
The COVID-19 Military Mandate Transparency Act will lay a foundation for Barrett's Patriots Over Politics Act (H.R. 3619), legislation that would restore the rights of service members to transfer their unused GI Bill education benefits to their children if their military careers were cut short due to the Department of Defense's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The Patriots Over Politics Act, which Barrett introduced May 19, 2025, would correct this injustice by allowing more than 6,300 service members who completed at least six years of service and left the military between August 24, 2021, and January 10, 2023, to transfer their G.I. Bill benefits to their children.
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