TEXAS — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday filed a motion in federal court seeking to block the military from enforcing its vaccine mandate on members of the Texas National Guard.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday filed a motion in federal court to block the military from enforcing its vaccine mandate on members of the Texas National Guard

  • Abbott argues that because President Joe Biden has not federalized the Texas National Guard, he has no authority to punish its members for not getting vaccinated

  • Texas and other states earlier sued the Pentagon to stop the military vaccine mandate

  • Members of the Army Guard are not required to be vaccinated until June

Abbott’s argument comes down to who calls the shots regarding the National Guard.

“But President Biden is not the commander-in-chief of Texas’s Guardsmen, because he has not federalized the Texas National Guard in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and Title 10 of the U.S. Code," the motion, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Tyler Division, reads. “As long as President Biden is not willing (or able) to take that formal step, he and his subordinates have no constitutional or statutory authority to control, punish, or discharge nonfederalized Guardsmen.”

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent letters to seven governors, including Abbott, reaffirming the need for members of their states’ Army and Air National Guards to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine or lose their Guard status.

In nearly identical letters, Austin told the governors that the virus “takes our service members out of the fight, temporarily or permanently, and jeopardizes our ability to meet mission requirements.”

Tuesday’s motion didn’t mark Abbott’s first challenge to the mandate. Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska filed lawsuits challenging the military’s vaccine mandate. A federal judge threw Oklahoma’s challenge out.

“The Governor of Texas does not take orders from the President. President Biden must be held accountable for his unconscionable willingness to hollow out the Texas Guard with another illegal vaccine mandate,” Abbott wrote in a tweet announcing Tuesday’s motion. “I will deploy every legal tool in defense of these American heroes.”

Texas has more than 20,000 National Guard members, the largest contingent of any state. The deadline for Air Guard members to get the shots has passed, but Army Guard members have until this June.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.