A group of GOP House members sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday demanding answers about a leaked memo describing what they called "blanket denial of religious accommodation" to the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Fifteen Republican members of Congress, led by Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Darrell Issa of California, were responding to a partially leaked internal memo by the Pentagon's Acting Inspector General Sean O'Donnell to Austin written in June, but circulated on Sept. 2.
The IG writes in the memo that he reviewed "concerning denials of religious liberty accommodation requests from COVID-19 vaccination requirements."
O'Donnell stated that the purpose of the report is "To inform [Secretary Austin] of potential noncompliance with standards for reviewing and documenting the denial of religious accommodation request from Service members." He said that the Department of Defense (DOD) hotline lit up with "dozens" of complaints regarding denied religious exemption requests from military service members.