'America First' Policy Group Backs Navy SEALs Fighting Vaccine Mandate

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) announced Tuesday it had filed an amicus brief in support of a group of Navy SEALs suing President Joe Biden for the military’s coronavirus vaccine mandate.

Thirty-five Navy SEALs, represented by First Liberty, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration earlier this month, seeking a legal, religious accommodation to the mandate.

Instead, it is threatening to expel highly trained and effective personnel by forcing them to violate their deeply held religious belief or practice with a hasty order that is both overbroad and violates the standing vaccine implementation order,” the amicus brief said.

AFPI also argued the mandate creates lifelong harm to religious servicemembers by forcing them to accept the “moral injury” of violating their conscience or face the consequences of a negative discharge.

AFPI wrote, “At a time when servicemember and veteran mental health challenges and suicide are at an all-time high, forcing religious servicemembers to commit an act that violates their religious beliefs or face the lifelong stigma of negative discharges will only increase the likelihood of mental health struggles.”.

“The Immunization Program calls for careful evaluation of the risks to different categories of servicemembers and locations, while the COVID Mandate Order ignores all distinctions,” its brief said.