Children’s Health Defense sent out an action alert this weekend asking people to thank President Trump for the executive order he signed with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. standing over his shoulder in the Oval Office on August 10, 2026.
I happily completed this “thank you” action as I am thrilled with the implications of Trump’s historic executive order. Last week on CHD TV I spoke with Mary Holland and John Gilmore about what a phenomenal moment this was for medical freedom in America.
But in my letter to President Trump I followed my thank you by asking the President the following question:
What about the fired unvaccinated workers in NY and across the nation?
Below is my letter to the President, sent on August 17, 2026.
(The version I sent was slightly edited, as there is a maximum of 4,000 characters permitted to be sent via the Whitehouse portal. Please consider sending a similar letter to the President at the following Whitehouse portal: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/)
Dear President Trump:
I’m writing to thank you for your vigilance in ensuring that the routine childhood vaccine schedule is as safe as possible and for returning power to parents in making vaccination decisions for their children. I am especially thankful for your recognition that religious liberty must be protected all across the nation when states attempt to force vaccination upon American children.
On August 10 when you signed this historic executive order in the Oval Office you stated the following: “This executive order directs the Attorney General to advance legal challenges against states that violate children’s rights to religious or medical vaccination exemptions.”
This is wonderful news!
But as an NYC special education teacher who was fired for not getting the Covid shot I need to point out that the order you signed focuses on the religious liberty of parents for their children, but not that of the American worker.
Thanks to a previous executive order of yours from 2025 the military is implementing a process to reinstate and compensate military members fired for refusing the Covid shot. There is a phenomenal movie titled “Duty to Disobey” which recognizes you and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for the bold initiatives you are moving forward to right this wrong from the Biden Administration. I thank you so much for this critical work Mr. President!
However - still till this very day - teachers, firefighters, cops, sanitation workers, medical professionals as well as workers in the private sector who were fired and had their careers ruined for not getting the Covid shot have not received any assistance whatsoever. As we step into the midterm election season these people now have zero motivation. They were so incredibly thrilled when you were elected in 2024, and the birth of MAHA held so much promise. Today, unfortunately, that is no longer the case.
Midterm elections
Fired unvaccinated workers were part of the historic coalition that carried you to victory in 2024. I know this because I helped to lead a historic MAHA effort in Pennsylvania that flipped Bucks County from blue to red for the first time since 1988. Read about this revolutionary effort published at MAHA Report:
Now today, fired unvaccinated workers are completely unmotivated to do anything as we enter the midterm elections. They feel neglected and thrown away and are likely to stay home this November and not vote. I know this to be true because hundreds of them are my personal friends, and thousands upon thousands of them follow me and TEACHERS FOR CHOICE on social media.
Joann Ariola
One of our true champions in NYC has been Councilwoman Joann Ariola. She has fought to help bring firefighters back to their jobs whose religious exemptions to vaccination were denied during Covid. A very small group of firefighters that she helped were eventually granted medical exemptions after a long, hard battle with the FDNY.
On August 14 when you were in Nassau County with Bruce Blakeman, Councilwoman Ariola was in attendance and she attempted to give a packet to Karoline Leavitt regarding this issue. Unfortunately Leavitt was unable to take that packet. You can see Joann Ariola on X proudly sporting a Bravest for Choice t-shirt. This is the group of firefighters who led 20,000 people over the Brooklyn Bridge fighting against Covid shot mandates.
Back in 2025, Councilwoman Ariola was in touch with multiple members of your administration discussing how an executive order could be used to bring back fired unvaccinated workers to our jobs. Unfortunately that never came to fruition.
If you want there to be any energy from what is normally an extremely active community of fired unvaccinated workers in the upcoming election season, there are 3 potential actions you can take:
Suggested Immediate Actions:
Issue an executive order similar to the one from August 10, but this one would focus on the American worker as opposed to American children. In it you would direct the DOJ to sue states and cities that did not honor religious or medical exemptions to vaccination during Covid.
Stop providing federal funds to states and municipalities that refuse to reinstate workers fired over the Covid vaccine mandate; especially where workers first amendment rights to religious accommodation were illegally denied.
Instruct the DOJ to intervene in cases that already exist seeking to reinstate and compensate fired unvaccinated workers. For a comprehensive list of such cases please reach out to me or to Children’s Health Defense.
Thank you for the outstanding work you are doing, especially the revolutionary efforts happening in the Department of Health and Human Services under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Please keep up - and expand - this phenomenal MAHA work!
Sincerely;
Michael Kane
Founder of TEACHERS FOR CHOICE