AMERICANS Act

Senate Bill

S. 117

119th Congress

AMERICANS Act

In Committee

Introduced:Jan 16, 2025

Primary Sponsor

Chris Van Hollen

Senator

Democratic

MD

Cosponsors

14

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Armed Forces and National Security

Summary

This bill prohibits DOD from reimposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates without congressional authorization. It provides remedies for service members discharged for vaccine refusal, including honorable discharge classification and bonus reimbursements.

Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

SponsorChris Van Hollen (D-MD)

Introduced1/16/2025

StatusRead twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

ChamberSenate

Data from Congress.gov

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Vote Prediction

AMERICANS Act

This bill prohibits DOD from reimposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates without congressional authorization. It provides remedies for service members discharged for vaccine refusal, including honorable discharge classification and bonus reimbursements.

Community Breakdown

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This bill prohibits DOD from reimposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates without congressional authorization. It provides remedies for service members discharged for vaccine refusal, including honorable discharge classification and bonus reimbursements.

Bill Number: 117
Sponsor: Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Introduced: 1/16/2025
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Policy Area: Armed Forces and National Security

Data from Congress.gov

AI-generated summary

Fact Sheet

Title: AMERICANS Act
Bill Number: 117
Sponsor: Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Introduced: 1/16/2025
Summary: This bill prohibits DOD from reimposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates without congressional authorization. It provides remedies for service members discharged for vaccine refusal, including honorable discharge classification and bonus reimbursements.

Data from Congress.gov

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill prohibits DOD from reimposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates without congressional authorization. It provides remedies for service members discharged for vaccine refusal, including honorable discharge classification and bonus reimbursements.

Last updated: 1/5/2026

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2025 or the AMERICANS ActThis bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the rescinded vaccine mandate of August 24, 2021, unless the mandate is expressly authorized by Congress. The bill also provides that DOD must establish an application process for remedies for members of the Armed Forces who were discharged or subject to adverse action under the rescinded mandate.Any administrative discharge of a member on the sole basis of a failure to receive a COVID-19 vaccine must be categorized as an honorable discharge, and DOD is prohibited from taking any adverse action against such a member for that reason.DOD must try to retain unvaccinated members and provide such members with professional development, promotion and leadership opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers.Additionally, DOD may only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of members in making certain decisions (e.g., deployments in countries where it is the law) and must establish a process to provide exemptions to certain members for such decisions.Members who were separated from the Armed Forces for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are not required to repay any bonuses and must be reimbursed if they repaid any portion of a bonus prior to this bill's enactment.This bill applies to all members of the Armed Forces, regardless of whether they sought an accommodation to any DOD COVID-19 vaccination policy.

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Prohibits new DOD COVID vaccine mandates
Requires congressional authorization for future mandates
Ensures honorable discharge for vaccine refusers
Reimburses bonuses taken from unvaccinated troops
Provides equal treatment for unvaccinated members

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

Service members discharged for refusing COVID vaccines would receive remedies including honorable discharge status and reimbursement of any bonuses they repaid. The military cannot mandate COVID vaccines without Congress.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Armed Forces and National Security

Related Subjects

Administrative remedies

Cardiovascular and respiratory health

Immunology and vaccination

Infectious and parasitic diseases

Military personnel and dependents

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

117, 119th Congress (2025). "AMERICANS Act". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-s-117

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