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Hi there, Ian Smith here with
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fedsmith.com with another news update
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for you. This time about a new OPM memo
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with guidance about the COVID vaccine
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mandate. That's kind of a blast from the
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past, isn't it? Before I get into the
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details of the memo, first I want to
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give you a little bit of history just to
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refresh everyone's memories. Going back
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to September 2021, that's when President
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Biden first issued the vaccine mandate
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for federal employees. He issued an
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executive order that month mandating
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that all federal employees and
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contractors get the CO 19 vaccine.
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Federal employees were given 75 days to
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comply or face disciplinary action which
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included the possibility for termination
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and there were some exemptions allowed
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medical and religious exemptions but
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that actually included some of its own
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controversy. U the religious exemptions,
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um it came out shortly after the the
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vaccine mandate was issued that some
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agencies were compiling databases of
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federal employees who were seeking
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religious exemptions. And so there was
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this whole big controversy around that
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issue. Also, the vaccine mandate itself
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obviously highly controversial that
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there were a number of legal challenges
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surrounding it. Um, one big case was
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Feds for Medical Freedom filed a lawsuit
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um, arguing that the mandate violated
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rights, led to discrimination.
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Um, that led to a a nationwide
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injunction that was issued at one point.
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It went back and forth in the lower
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courts. It had been appealed to the
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Supreme Court, but then um President
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Biden repealed the vaccine mandate
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before the Supreme Court actually issued
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a ruling and they just dismissed the
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case as mood at that point. Biden did
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revoke the vaccine mandate in May 2023
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after the pandemic was declared to be
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over. And at that time, the Office of
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Personnel Management issued guidance uh
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shortly after he repealed the vaccine
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mandate in which it directed federal
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agencies to ensure that that job
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postings don't list COVID vaccination as
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And this new memo that OPM just issued a
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few days ago, it's expanding on that
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older OPM guidance from a couple of
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years ago. Key provisions of it are that
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agencies may not consider an
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individual's CO 19 vaccine status or any
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history of non-compliance with prior
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mandates or exemption requests in
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decisions related to hiring, discipline
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or termination. Also, agencies have to
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expunge these records and federal
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employees can opt out of that if they
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choose to. They have 90 days to do that.
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And this is a quote from the memo.
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Effective immediately, federal agencies
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may not use an individual's COVID 19
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vaccine status, history of
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non-compliance with prior COVID 19
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vaccine mandates, or requests for
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exemptions from such mandates in any
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employment related decisions, including
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but not limited to hiring, promotion,
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discipline, or termination.
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Additionally, subject to document
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preservation requirements related to
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litigation obligations, all information
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related to an employes COVID 19 vaccine
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status, non-compliance with prior
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vaccine mandates or exemption requests
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must be expuned from any employees
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official personnel folder in electronic
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official personnel folder unless within
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90 days of this memorandum theid the
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individual affirmatively opts out of
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this removal. If an individual opts out,
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he or she can still request and obtain
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such expungement at any subsequent time.
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Agencies must report compliance to OPM
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with this directive by September 8th.
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So, OPM is, as I said, expanding on the
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the previous guidance that it issued
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back in 2023 when the vaccine mandate
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was repealed. And it's basically moving
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to completely undo any remaining aspects
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of the COVID vaccine mandate.
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And the key point for federal employees
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in all of this is again if you want to
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have you if you want to opt out of OPM
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deleting these records, you must do so
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by November 6, 2025. That is 90 days
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after the date on which the memo was
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issued, which was August 8th, 2025. I
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hope you found this update helpful.
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Please remember to like and subscribe to
4:35
the channel and also to visit the
4:36
fedsmith.com website where we have many
4:39
news articles from a number of authors
4:41
on this and other topics of interest to
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current and former federal employees.
