A Washington, DC district court judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday that prevents both civilian and active-duty military plaintiffs from being terminated while they await a ruling after a suit over religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccines.
"None of the civilian employee plaintiffs will be subject to discipline while his or her request for a religious exception is pending," read a minute order from District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly obtained by Fox News.
Biden is facing criticism after thousands of civilians, contractors, and troops are facing the risk of being ultimately fired from their jobs if they are not fully vaccinated against coronavirus.
In a filing on Friday, the Biden administration reportedly said that it refused to halt the discipline and termination of any employees in the process of seeking a religious exemption to the vaccine, pending the court’s ruling on the temporary restraining order (TRO) motion.
"It is Plaintiffs’ burden to demonstrate impending irreparable harm…but Plaintiffs offer nothing beyond speculation to suggest that their religious exception requests will be denied and that they will be disciplined at all, much less on the first day that such discipline is theoretically possible.”
The judge also requested Thursday that the administration agree that “active duty military plaintiffs, whose religious exception requests have been denied, will not be disciplined or separated during the pendency of their appeals."
Jenna Lynn Ellis, an American lawyer who worked on Donald Trump's election, shared a copy of the minute order to Twitter in what she referred to as a “HUGE WIN in Church v. Biden.”
“This is an amazing development from the DC District Court in the stand for OUR RIGHTS against the unconstitutional vaccine mandates,” the tweet read.
The Biden administration was given until noon on Friday to file a supplemental notice that indicates whether they agree with the terms of no plaintiff facing discipline or termination pending the court's ruling. If they fail to do so, another briefing is set to be scheduled.