U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy introduced the COVID-19 Military Backpay Act of 2025 on Friday, aiming to provide backpay and compensation to thousands of service members who were discharged from the military due to non-compliance with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The legislation seeks to restore benefits, pay, and retirement accruals to the roughly 100,000 service members and their families affected by the mandate. According to Department of Defense figures, nearly 8,500 active-duty service members were discharged, and an additional 60,000 in the Army Reserve and National Guard were denied service, pay, and benefits.
“Under the Biden administration, thousands of American warfighters were unceremoniously – and without due process – discharged from the military for refusing to comply with Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate,” said Senator Sheehy, a decorated combat veteran and freshman senator from Montana. “This unacceptable action by the last administration robbed servicemembers of the pay and benefits they rightfully earned in service to our country.”
Sheehy’s bill would allow impacted service members to voluntarily opt into a claims process under the Military Pay Act. Qualified claimants would be eligible for backpay and other entitlements retroactive to the date of their discharge. The relief provided under this legislation would be in addition to benefits granted under former President Donald Trump’s executive order reinstating discharged service members.
While the military vaccine mandate was ultimately rescinded by Congress in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and challenged successfully in the courts, many affected service members have yet to receive full restitution.
“This legislation will right this wrong by building on President Trump’s Executive Order to reinstate those servicemembers,” Sheehy added, “ensuring we fulfill our government’s sacred obligations to the men and women who put their lives on the line in defense of our freedoms.”
The COVID-19 Military Backpay Act marks one of Sheehy’s most high-profile legislative initiatives since taking office and underscores his continued focus on veterans and military issues, which have been central to his political platform. The bill is expected to draw support from other Republican lawmakers and advocacy groups critical of the vaccine mandate’s impact on military readiness and personnel.