Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense, letting him know Texas will not impose President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on members of the Texas National Guard.
Abbott shared the letter on Twitter.
“The state of Texas will NOT impose the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on members of the Texas National Guard,” he wrote.
Here is a portion of the letter:
“As Governor of Texas, I am the commander-in-chief of this State’s militia. In that capacity, on October 4, 2021, I ordered the Adjutant General of Texas to comply with my Executive Order GA-39. If unvaccinated guardsmen suffer any adverse consequences within the State of Texas, they will have only President Biden and his Administration to blame. The State of Texas will not enforce this latest COVID-19 vaccine mandate against its guardsmen. If the federal government keeps threatening to defund the Texas National Guard, I will deploy every legal tool available to me as Governor in defense of these American heroes.”
Austin threatened to cut off federal dollars for unvaccinated guardsmen in late November. Abbott said the willingness to “hollow out” the National Guard is “unconscionable in the face of growing global threats and a border crisis created by the Biden Administration.”