COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Henry McMaster recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging him to rescind the federal vaccine mandate on National Guardsmen, explaining why it is likely unlawful, and advising him that South Carolina will take no part in punishing guardsmen who choose not to get the vaccine. 

To view a copy of the letter, click here.

In the letter, the governor states that he plans to “withhold court-martial convening authority for the Adjutant General and any subordinate commanders in connection with a soldier’s failure to comply with the Department’s vaccine mandates.”