Can a Governor Fire a Secretary of State
The governor of Oklahoma believes he can declare the state'due south National Guard exempt from the Pentagon'southward COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and he appears to have fired the Guard's top general and installed a different one who agrees with him.
On Thursday, November. eleven, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt replaced Maj. Gen. Michael Thompson with Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino as commander of the Oklahoma National Guard, a position known as the state adjutant general. Mancino immediately released instructions that Oklahoma National Guard and Air National Guard members did not need to follow the vaccine mandate.
Mancino cited the Oklahoma state constitution and federal Championship 32, which covers National Guard units when not federalized. Mancino said the governor was the lawful commander in principal of the Oklahoma National Baby-sit when the Guard was not federally mobilized, and he noted that Stitt was seeking to exempt the Oklahoma Guard from the Pentagon mandate.
"I hereby order that no Oklahoma Guardsmen be required to have the COVID-19 Vaccine, notwithstanding whatsoever other Federal requirement," the new policy reads.
That a governor or state official tin override Department of Defense force-wide medical policy is non a view shared by the Pentagon. Components under the National Guard Bureau follow the same guidelines equally active-duty troops for most all military medical requirements, from the entry-level acme, weight, and vaccination-status requirements for new recruits , to routine annual concrete fitness tests , to specialized medical and vision standards for flight crews .
Stitt jumped into the Guard'southward vaccine policy earlier this month, sending a letter of the alphabet to Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin requesting an exemption from the mandate.
"Nosotros estimate that over 800 Oklahoma guardsmen have not and do not plan on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine," Stitt wrote. "This constitutes ten% of Oklahoma's overall strength. It is irresponsible for the federal government to identify mandatory vaccine obligations on Oklahoma national guardsmen which could potentially limit the number of individuals that I tin call upon to assist the state during an emergency."
Austin has notwithstanding to respond to the governor. Neither the governor's function nor the Pentagon replied to Coffee or Die Mag 'due south request for comment.
It is unclear why Stitt abruptly replaced Thompson with Mancino prior to the policy change. Both generals are career members of the Oklahoma Guard. The governor's part told Tulsa World that Thompson's firing was not related to the vaccine mandate.
Thompson told Tulsa World that the governor had called him to permit him know he had been relieved of duty, but Thompson discovered via Twitter that Mancino would replace him. Thompson said that he had agreed to get out his post in January and that the governor had accustomed his asking. His sudden firing was a surprise.
"He is the boss," Thompson said of Stitt's decision. "That is his manner. At the end of the 24-hour interval, nobody can tell him differently."
Thompson was a career infantry officeholder who, co-ordinate to his official bio, led a security unit in Iraq — the first infantry unit from Oklahoma to earn the Gainsay Infantry Badge since the Korean State of war . He likewise led units that responded to an Oklahoma City federal building bombing and to Hurricane Katrina.
Mancino was enlisted for half-dozen years in the land Baby-sit and commissioned in 1992. He was director of it/G6 for the Guard and was awarded ii Statuary Stars and a Gainsay Activeness Badge during deployments.
Thompson told Tulsa World that, when he was adjutant general, he had expected his soldiers to meet the vaccine borderline.
"It is a requirement," he said.
The Oklahoma National Guard had not responded to Coffee or Die 'due south request for comment at the time of publication.
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Maggie BenZvi
Maggie BenZvi is a contributing editor for Coffee or Die. She holds a bachelor'south caste in political science from the University of Chicago, a chief's degree in human being rights from Columbia Academy, and has worked for the ACLU too equally the International Rescue Commitee. She has likewise completed a summertime journalism program at Northwestern Academy'south Medill School of Journalism. In improver to her piece of work at Coffee or Die, she'southward a stay at home mom and, notably, does not potable coffee. Got a tip? Get in touch!
Source: https://coffeeordie.com/oklahoma-guard-vaccine/
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