Latest news with #federalmandates
Yahoo
09-08-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump admin orders federal agencies to scrub all worker COVID vaccination records
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has ordered all federal agencies to scrub any records related to workers' COVID-19 vaccination status and other compliance with pandemic mandates. The order rescinding vaccine record retention requirements was announced in an Aug. 8 memorandum by Scott Kupor, the director of the Office of Personnel Management in a memo to all federal department and agency heads. They have until Sept. 8 'to report their compliance,' Kupor wrote. 'Effective immediately, federal agencies may not use an individual's COVID-19 vaccine status, history of noncompliance with prior COVID-19 vaccine mandates, or requests for exemptions from such mandates in any employment-related decisions, including but not limited to hiring, promotion, discipline, or termination,' Kupor wrote in the official memorandum to all heads and acting heads of federal departments and agencies. Kupor said the move was part of the Trump administrationʼs broader effort to reverse 'many harmful policies' of former President Joe Biden's administration. More: Leading doctors sue RFK Jr. over COVID-19 vaccines. Here's why. 'Things got out of hand during the pandemic, and federal workers were fired, punished, or sidelined for simply making a personal medical decision. That should never have happened,' Kupor said in a post on X. 'Thanks to @POTUS's leadership, we're making sure the excesses of that era do not have lingering effects on federal workers.' Also, due to document preservation requirements related to recent litigation, Kupor said, 'all information related to an employee's COVID-19 vaccine status, noncompliance with prior vaccine mandates, or exemption requests must be expunged' from all employees' official personnel folders unless, within 90 days, any individual 'affirmatively opts out of this removal.' The White House did not respond immediately to a USA TODAY request for comment. Kupor's memo cited a Sept. 9, 2021, executive order from Biden directing federal agencies to require COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of federal employment. While Biden subsequently repealed that order, his Office of Personnel Management soon after issued a new policy reminding agencies that the executive order could no longer be enforced. A federal judge in December 2021 issued a nationwide injunction against a vaccine mandate for federal contractors, ruling that Biden likely exceeded his authority by imposing the requirement. In May, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the COVID-19 vaccine is no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. But the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was still recommending COVID vaccines for healthy children, according to its published immunization schedule. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump admin orders fed agencies to scrub worker COVID vaccine records
Fox News
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Federal agencies directed to delete employee COVID vaccination records and exemption requests
In a sweeping move aimed at rolling back pandemic-era mandates, the Trump administration on Friday directed all federal agencies to erase any records related to employees' COVID-19 vaccination status, prior mandate noncompliance or exemption requests. The guidance, issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), was a response to recent litigation and is part of a broader push to reverse what officials have described as "harmful pandemic-era policies" imposed under the Biden administration. "Things got out of hand during the pandemic, and federal workers were fired, punished or sidelined for simply making a personal medical decision," OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement. "That should never have happened. Thanks to President [Donald] Trump's leadership, we're making sure the excesses of that era do not have lingering effects on federal workers." Former President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14043 in September 2021, directing federal agencies to require COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of federal employment. After the controversial demand, numerous lawsuits were filed by federal employees, unions and states alleging the mandate violated constitutional rights and federal labor laws. A federal appeals court blocked enforcement of the order in 2022m and Biden repealed the mandate in May 2023, prompting OPM officials to issue a memorandum to human resources directors stating that "agencies should review their job postings … to ensure that none list compliance with the now revoked Executive Order 14043 as a qualification requirement." The memo also reminded agencies that the executive order could no longer be enforced. In a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies Friday, Kupor announced that, effective immediately, agencies are barred from using a person's vaccine history or exemption requests in any employment-related decision, including hiring, promotion, discipline or termination. Unless an employee affirmatively opts out within 90 days, all vaccine-related information must be permanently removed from both physical and electronic personnel files. Agencies must certify compliance with the memo by Sept. 8, according to the memo. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
