Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21a477_1bo2.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

KAVANAUGH, J., concurring 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 21A477 
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LLOYD J. AUSTIN, III, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, 
ET AL. v. U. S. NAVY SEALS 1–26, ET AL. 

ON APPLICATION FOR A PARTIAL STAY 

[March 25, 2022] 

The  application  for  a  partial  stay  presented  to  JUSTICE 
ALITO  and  by  him  referred  to  the  Court  is  granted.    The 
district  court’s  January  3,  2022  order,  insofar  as  it  pre-
cludes the Navy from considering respondents’ vaccination 
status in making deployment, assignment, and other oper-
ational  decisions,  is  stayed  pending  disposition  of  the  ap-
peal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Cir-
cuit and disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari, if 
such writ is timely sought.  Should the petition for a writ of
certiorari  be  denied,  this  order  shall  terminate  automati-
cally.  In  the  event  the  petition  for  a  writ  of  certiorari  is 
granted, the order shall terminate upon the sending down
of the judgment of this Court.

 JUSTICE THOMAS would deny the application for a partial 

stay. 

JUSTICE KAVANAUGH, concurring. 
I concur in the Court’s decision to grant the Government’s 
application for a partial stay of the District Court’s prelim-
inary injunction for a simple overarching reason: Under Ar-
ticle  II  of  the  Constitution,  the  President  of  the  United 
States, not any federal judge, is the Commander in Chief of 
the Armed Forces.  In light of that bedrock constitutional 
principle,  “courts  traditionally  have  been  reluctant  to  in-
trude upon the authority of the Executive in military and 
national security affairs.”  Department of Navy v. Egan, 484