In a decisive move to undo pandemic-era mandates, the Trump administration has directed all federal agencies to permanently delete employee COVID-19 vaccination records and exemption requests unless workers choose to keep them.
The directive, issued Friday by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), gives agencies 90 days to erase this sensitive information from personnel files.
The order is part of a broader effort to reverse what officials describe as “harmful pandemic-era policies” implemented under the Biden administration.
OPM Director Scott Kupor condemned the past restrictions, saying, “Things got out of hand during the pandemic, and federal workers were fired, punished or sidelined for simply making a personal medical decision. That should never have happened. Thanks to President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, we’re making sure the excesses of that era do not have lingering effects on federal workers.”
The move follows the repeal of Biden’s controversial Executive Order 14043, signed in September 2021, which mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for all federal employees.
That mandate sparked numerous lawsuits from employees, unions, and states who argued it violated constitutional rights and federal labor laws, per Fox News.
A federal appeals court blocked enforcement of the vaccine mandate in 2022. Biden officially repealed it in