Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.

AMERICANS Act

Chamber: United States House of Representatives (The United States of America)
Session: 119th Congress Current
**Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2025 or the AMERICANS Act** This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the rescinded vaccine mandate of August 24, 2021, unless the mandate is expressly authorized by Congress. The bill also provides that DOD must establish an application process for remedies for members of the Armed Forces who were discharged or subject to adverse action under the rescinded mandate. Any administrative discharge of a member on the sole basis of a failure to receive a COVID-19 vaccine must be categorized as an honorable discharge, and DOD is prohibited from taking any adverse action against such a member for that reason. DOD must try to retain unvaccinated members and provide such members with professional development, promotion and leadership opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers. Additionally, DOD may only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of members in making certain decisions (e.g., deployments in countries where it is the law) and must establish a process to provide exemptions to certain members for such decisions. Members who were separated from the Armed Forces for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are not required to repay any bonuses and must be reimbursed if they repaid any portion of a bonus prior to this bill's enactment. This bill applies to all members of the Armed Forces, regardless of whether they sought an accommodation to any DOD COVID-19 vaccination policy.

Sponsors

(21)
PH
Pat Harrigan
Republican · Primary
MK
Mike Kennedy
Republican · Primary
AO
Andrew Ogles
Republican · Primary
AH
Abraham Hamadeh
Republican · Primary
MS
Marlin Stutzman
Republican · Primary
TW
Tony Wied
Republican · Primary
APL
Anna Paulina Luna
Republican · Primary
BK
Brad Knott
Republican · Primary
MH
Mark Harris
Republican · Primary
TN
Troy Nehls
Republican · Primary
RM
Riley Moore
Republican · Primary
RO
Robert Onder
Republican · Primary
TB
Tom Barrett
Republican · Primary
CE
Chuck Edwards
Republican · Primary
GM
Gregory Murphy
Republican · Primary
KS
Keith Self
Republican · Primary
TD
Troy Downing
Republican · Primary
BJ
Brian Jack
Republican · Primary
DS
Derek Schmidt
Republican · Primary
MM
Mark Messmer
Republican · Primary
JM
John McGuire
Republican · Primary

Legislative Votes

No votes have been held on this legislation yet.