Oklahoma sues over National Guard vaccine requirement
CBSN
Oklahoma is suing the Biden administration over its federal coronavirus vaccine mandate for federal employees and the National Guard, the state's Republican attorney general announced Thursday.
"Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate ensures that many Oklahoma National Guard members will simply quit instead of getting a vaccine, a situation that will irreparably harm Oklahomans' safety and security," Attorney General John O'Connor said in a statement. "These patriots, along with many federal employees, who serve their country and their state are now at risk of being terminated because they do not wish to take the vaccine."
The state of Oklahoma is asking the court to stop the enforcement of the requirement and to prevent the federal government from withholding funding from the Oklahoma National Guard over guard members' vaccination status. Sixteen Oklahoma Air National Guard members who don't want to get vaccinated are also plaintiffs.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.