U.S. Senators Katie Britt, Ted Cruz, Colleagues Introduce Legislation Defending Troop’s Constitutional Right to Freedom of Religion
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) joined Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) in introducing the Reaffirming Every Servicemember’s Trust Over Religious Exemptions (RESTORE) Act.
“I’m proud to support the RESTORE Act, which directly addresses the previous administration’s mishandling of religious accommodation requests and aims to remedy the unjust consequences experienced by thousands of dedicated men and women in uniform. This legislation builds upon the AMERICANS Act, of which I am also a proud cosponsor,” said Senator Britt. “I’m honored to stand with Senator Cruz and my colleagues in our continued efforts to restore fairness and justice for military service members harmed by the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”
The RESTORE Act would require the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish a Special Review Board to audit the service-wide handling of religious accommodation requests related to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The Board would be charged with identifying those who were unjustly penalized and correcting the career and personnel records of affected servicemembers. Read the full text of the bill here.
“American servicemembers are still facing unjust consequences for personal religious decisions that caused them to reject the Biden administration’s coercive COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including being denied promotions and receiving negative performance reviews. Under the RESTORE Act, these wrongs would be corrected for the men and women in uniform,” said Senator Cruz.
On August 24, 2021, the DoD implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all U.S. service members. While exemptions were permitted for religious, medical, or administrative reasons, the process for religious accommodation requests (RARs) was applied inconsistently and with overwhelming rejection.
“Biden’s DOD placed a ridiculous vaccine mandate on the great men and women who served our nation, kicking American heroes out of our service for refusing to comply for health or religious reasons. President Trump is already working to right these wrongs, but we must make sure every service member who lost their livelihood due to this overreaching mandate has the chance to serve their nation once again. I’m proud to support the RESTORE Act and will always be grateful to those willing to serve our nation,” said Senator Scott.
Approximately 28,000 RARs were submitted across all branches and fewer than 400 were approved, representing less than 2% of the total requests. An estimated 18,000–20,000 service members who had submitted religious exemption requests remained in service and were denied promotions, received negative performance evaluations, or coerced into vaccination despite acting in good faith under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“Thousands of military service members were punished for declining the COVID-19 vaccine – some for religious reasons that are protected by the Constitution. The RESTORE Act corrects these injustices by awarding the promotions and pay stolen from our courageous men and women in uniform by the Biden administration,” said Senator Lee.
Specifically, the RESTORE Act would require the Defense Secretary to establish a Special Review Board under the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to audit all religious accommodation requests and outcomes related to the COVID-19 vaccine. The Senators’ bill would also mandate a DoD-wide review of career impacts caused by denial or retaliation following religious accommodation requests, including stalled promotions, negative evaluations, and restricted assignments.
Additionally, the bill would authorize corrective action such as backdated promotions, restoration of Date of Rank (DOR), lost pay and retirement contributions, and expungement of adverse actions from personnel records, and require compensation and remedies to be delivered within 60 days of case resolution. Lastly, the RESTORE Act would ensure transparency and congressional oversight through quarterly reporting to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and a final Inspector General audit.
Senator Britt is also a cosponsor of the Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots (AMERICANS) Act of 2025. The legislation provides remedies for military servicemembers harmed by the DoD’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
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