An Oklahoma federal judge on Tuesday ruled against an attempt from the state to block the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for National Guard members. U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot rejected a motion from Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), Attorney General John O’Connor, and sixteen Oklahoma Air National Guard members for a preliminary injunction to the mandate, saying the plaintiffs’ claims were “without merit,” and thus the motion would be denied. Stitt and Attorney General John O’Connor, both outspoken critics of vaccine mandates, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the vaccine mandate on Dec. 3, 2021. In a complaint (pdf) which names President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and dozens more federal officials and agencies as defendants, the state argued that the mandate violates the Constitution and has no legal basis. “This vaccine mandate certainly interferes with the sovereign prerogatives of the State of Oklahoma. It undermines the laws, public policy, dignity, …