By Torrie Herrington, NOTUS | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the military will not require troops to get the annual flu vaccine — a requirement he described as “denying them simple medical autonomy.”
In a video posted on X, Hegseth said service members were previously forced to “choose between their conscience and their country,” describing the Biden administration as an “era of betrayal.”
“We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war-fighting capabilities,” Hegseth said. “In this case, this includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it. The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member everywhere in every circumstance at all times — it’s just overly broad and not rational.”
Hegseth signed a memorandum Monday that solidified the new policy, which made it effective immediately that “the annual influenza vaccine is voluntary for all Active and Reserve Component Service members and Department of War civilian personnel.”
Hegseth’s new policy is in line with the Trump administration’s broader efforts to roll back vaccine requirements, which include pushes from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reduce the number of recommended vaccines, especially for children.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Committee on Armed Services, called Hegseth’s move “a mistake” and said it would “marginally” affect military readiness.
“I don’t equate them with COVID shots,” Wicker told NOTUS. “When I was on active duty and a reservist, I dutifully took my flu shot every year … as a whole, it made for a healthier and flu free force.”
Asked about the latest announcement, Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican who has broken with the Trump administration over vaccines in the past, said little.
“I’m not familiar with that, so let me look into it,” Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said.
Hegseth’s new policy was announced almost a year after the Pentagon began to move away from requiring seasonal flu shots for all service members.
In May 2025, the department released a memorandum that said it would “conserve its resources by requiring seasonal flu vaccination for service members only when doing so most directly contributes to readiness.”It states that only reserve troops active for 30 days or more would be required to get the vaccine.
This is a stark contrast to the department under former President Joe Biden, which Hegseth points out in his video.
Under Biden, all service members were required to also get the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the Trump administration, more than 8,000 troops voluntarily and involuntarily left the military between 2021 and 2023 due to the mandate. It was rescinded in 2023, and when President Donald Trump began his second term, he signed an executive order that allowed service members to be reinstated if they were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hegseth said the new policy is part of the administration’s efforts not only to restore “freedom and strength” for joint forces, but also trust with the American people.
“Rest assured that under President Trump, the War Department will always honor our brave warriors and do everything we can to restore the American people’s trust in their military for generations to come, and that’s why I am proud to sign this new policy,” he said.
While Hegseth touted the policy change as one that would strengthen the military, health experts quickly weighed in to push back against that analysis.
“The Pentagon seems to be redefining vaccination from a force-protection tool into a selective convenience,” Chris Meekins, a former Trump administration official, told The Washington Post. “The risk here isn’t some dramatic overnight military health crisis. It’s death by a thousand cuts: more flu cases, more missed duty days, more hospitalization costs, and more preventable readiness losses.”
Al Weaver and Igor Bobic contributed to this report.
This story is provided by a partnership between Mississippi Today and the NOTUS Washington Bureau Initiative, which seeks to help readers in local communities understand what their elected representatives are doing in Congress.
