Moving Beyond COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for Federal Workers

The order revokes Executive Order 14043 — which required COVID-19 vaccination for federal employees — and Executive Order 14042 — which required COVID-19 safety protocols for federal contractors and subcontractors. Any agency policies that were adopted specifically to implement either revoked order may no longer be enforced and must be rescinded consistent with applicable law. The revocation took effect at 12:01 a.m. on May 12, 2023.

The order preserves all independent agency legal authorities, meaning agencies retain any powers they hold outside the two revoked orders. It does not itself bar agencies from adopting new or different COVID-related policies grounded in separate legal authority, nor does it create any individually enforceable right or benefit.

Federal executive-branch civilian employees who were previously subject to the government-wide COVID-19 vaccination requirement, and federal contractors and subcontractors whose contracts had required compliance with COVID safety protocols under EO 14042.

Federal employees and contractors are no longer subject to a government-wide COVID-19 vaccination or safety-protocol mandate. Agencies that had built internal compliance programs around the two revoked orders must now dismantle those programs, and employees previously denied exemptions or extensions face no further federal enforcement.

The revocation is immediate — both prior orders are nullified as of May 12, 2023, with no phase-out period. Agencies must actively rescind any internal policies they issued solely to implement EO 14042 or EO 14043; policies grounded in independent statutory or regulatory authority remain in force. There are no reporting requirements, no new rulemaking triggered, and no oversight mechanism specified. The standard general-provisions clauses preserve OMB's budgetary functions and limit the order's judicial enforceability.