Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has told National Guard members in the Lone Star State that they can ignore the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying President Biden “is not your commander-in-chief.”
Abbott sued the Biden administration on Tuesday over the vaccine requirement for the Texas Army National Guard, another legal challenge that Texas has instituted or participated in involving vaccination mandates for large businesses, federal contractors or health care workers, the Texas Tribune reported.
“Unless President Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard in accordance with Title 10 of the U.S. Code, he is not your commander-in-chief under our federal or state Constitutions,” Abbott said in a letter to Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, the adjutant general of the Texas National Guard.