Candidate Survey 2026: Do you support giving remedies to military members harmed by DEI or the COVID 19 vaccine mandate?

Remedies should not be limited to financial compensation. Depending on the harm suffered, they may include reinstatement, restoration of rank, correction of military records, recovery of lost benefits or opportunities, and other measures that make the individual whole. Where the government has demonstrably wronged those who faithfully served their country, it should also have the humility to acknowledge that mistake. A formal apology, when warranted by the facts, is an important act of accountability and respect for those who volunteered to serve.

No one is harmed by DEI.

I support remedies to people harmed by the covid mandate. But with DEI attached. All people must be helped. Not just those who can pay or look a certain way.

If a service member was genuinely harmed, whether through administrative decisions, policy implementation, or medical circumstances, they should have access to a fair review process and appropriate remedies. No one who serves our nation should feel ignored if they believe they were treated unjustly.

At the same time, any remedy must be based on credible evidence, proper investigation, and established law. As a member of Congress, I would support oversight to ensure policies within the military are implemented fairly and that service members have clear pathways to appeal decisions or seek support when harm occurs.
My priority is making sure the men and women who serve our country are respected, protected, and given the accountability they deserve.

My ‘Blueprint for Socioeconomic Evolution’ argues that providing individual remedies for those who prioritized private skepticism over a shared civic duty during a national crisis would only further erode that essential trust. If we reward the fracture of the social bond, we weaken the ‘crew’ for the next crisis. To move forward, our focus must not be on litigating past grievances, but on rebuilding the trust that was lost. We must return to a state where our public-level focus is on what unites us—our shared mission and our collective reliance on reason—rather than the ‘private dogmas’ that drive us apart.”

Service members discharged or punished for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine or for opposing discriminatory DEI policies deserve full reinstatement where possible, back pay, restored benefits, rank, and pensions. Those who suffered career damage, lost promotions, or faced retaliation for prioritizing merit over identity quotas also warrant compensation and correction of their records.

The prior mandates violated bodily autonomy and turned the Department of War into an instrument of coercion and division. Remedies are not optional; they are basic justice. I would vote for legislation that delivers swift, concrete relief without expanding bureaucracy or creating new entitlements.

I think this question is overly broad.

While I support reinstatement of military personnel who were forced out of the military for lack of receiving a covid vaccine, I see no straightforward means of providing a remedy to people who believe they were not treated fairly due to DEI policies.

I have two reasons for that: it is difficult to impossible to demonstrate discrimination without a written record with a clear statement of intent, and it is impossible to predict how the career of an individual may have progressed if they had not been a victim of reverse discrimination, making the estimate of a fair remedy equally difficult to impossible.

I could see changing my answer to this question if there were clear definitions for “harmed” and “remedies.”