Texas Governor Greg Abbot (right) on Tuesday announced he would sue the Biden administration to block the Pentagon’s vaccination mandate for his state’s National Guard.
In one letter To Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, adjutant general of the Texas military department, Abbott says he is suing because the federal government has put his state’s guards in a “difficult position.”
“As Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Militia, I gave a simple order to every member of the Texas National Guard in my chain of command: do not punish any guard for choosing not to receive a vaccine. against COVID-19, â€the governor wrote.
“Although my order has been in effect for months now, President BidenJoe BidenTrump Denounces “Low-Life Twitter” After Greene’s Account Suspends Jill Biden To Travel To Kentucky To See Tornado Damage On The Money – Biden’s Ox with Industry meat PLUS muddied the waters with a vaccine warrant from the US Department of Defense, â€he said.
The trial comes weeks after Abbott officially told the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
Lloyd AustinOvernight Defense & National Security – Nuclear States Say There Are No Winners In World War that he would not impose the vaccine requirement on the guards of his state.
Austin made military vaccination mandatory in August, but each department is responsible for implementing the mandate.
Air National Guard members had until Dec. 31 to comply after the Air Force extended an earlier deadline. Meanwhile, members of the Army National Guard have until June 30 to get vaccinated.
In October, Abbott ordered Norris not to punish guards who choose not to receive the vaccine.
Abbott’s trial also comes just a week after Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (right) lost a similar case to block the Pentagon’s vaccination mandate for members of the National Guard.
Stitt was the first GOP governor to sue the Pentagon for the mandate in December after Austin rejected his request to exempt his state’s guards from the mandate. US District Judge Stephen Friot said in a ruling last Tuesday that the allegations in the lawsuit were “without merit.”
Meanwhile, five other GOP governors urged Austin to exempt the National Guard from the vaccination mandate.
There are two federal laws that dictate the control of the National Guard. Abbott’s letter claims he has custody authority under Title 32 of the U.S. Code, which states that custody is under state control unless called for federal duties .
Under Title 10, the President can mobilize the Guard, placing it under federal authority. But the Austin said the guards are federally funded when they receive any training or education, so they must follow the warrant regardless.
“Federal courts have the power to decide whether President Biden violates the second militia clause of the US constitution by undermining my power as Commander-in-Chief, instead of federalizing the Texas Guards to use his own power to Commander-in-Chief, â€Abbott wrote.
“Winner or loser, President Biden must be held responsible for his unreasonable desire to empty the Texas National Guard,” he continued.
La Colline has contacted the Pentagon for comment.
