The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 6 included a provision that terminates the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in its defense funding bill.
The new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (pdf) states that “Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall rescind the mandate that members of the Armed Forces be vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to the memorandum dated August 24, 2021, regarding ‘Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members.’”
“Make no mistake: this is a win for our military,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a statement.
But he called for the administration to go further by reenlisting any member who has been removed over vaccine refusal.
“In the United States, the number of new servicemembers joining the military is reaching a near record low. The United States needs a strong military to protect our country against the growing threats facing our nation,” they said. “We are pleased that the final conferenced bill includes language mirroring our amendments’ efforts to protect troops from being fired due to Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate without fair appeal and to the harm of service readiness.”
The House Rules Committee released the text of the bill days after Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, revealed that lawmakers were discussing an end to the vaccine mandate.
“I was a very strong supporter of the vaccine mandate when we did it, a very strong supporter of the Covid restrictions put in place by DoD and others,” Smith told Politico. “But at this point in time, does it make sense to have that policy from August 2021? That is a discussion that I am open to and that we’re having.”
A group of senators, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), also celebrated the move.
Mandate ‘Isn’t Worth it’
The costs to replace each member who has been discharged due to their refusal to get vaccinated—the military has denied en masse requests for religious exemptions—and other consequences, such as the impact on morale, shows the mandate “isn’t worth it,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Lee was one of 20 GOP senators who announced in late November that they would vote against the NDAA unless it included the termination of the mandate.
McCarthy said on Sunday that Congress would “secure lifting that vaccine mandate on our military.” The NDAA would not advance without that, McCarthy added. He also suggested that he made this position clear to President Joe Biden as they met for the first time since Republicans secured a House majority in the next Congress.
On Tuesday, McCarthy said that those discharged based solely on their decision not to take the vaccine “deserve justice,” and that the Biden administration “must correct service records and not stand in the way of re-enlisting” any such service members.
“Make no mistake: this is a win for our military,” he added. “But in 28 days the real work begins—the new House Republican majority will work to finally hold the Biden administration accountable and assist the men and women in uniform who were unfairly targeted by this Administration.”
White House Opposition
A veto-proof majority may be required to axe the mandate, which was announced in August 2021 by the Biden administration in the name of “military readiness.”
The White House told news outlets that McCarthy raised the issue during the meeting but that the administration wanted to keep the mandate in place.
“Leader McCarthy raised this with the President, and the President told him he would consider it,” a White House spokesperson said. “The Secretary of Defense has recommended retaining the mandate, and the President supports his position. Discussions about the NDAA are ongoing.”
Presidents can veto bills passed by Congress.
Overriding a veto requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
Dozens of Democrat senators and a number of Democrat House members would need to join Republicans to override a veto. Democrats have generally supported mandates during the pandemic, while Republicans have generally opposed them.
Defense Secretary
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a Biden appointee, told reporters over the weekend that he wants to keep the mandate in place, claiming it has “kept people healthy.” The Pentagon did not return a request for evidence to back the claim.
Austin said in a memorandum dated Aug. 24, 2021, to top military officials that he determined that a mandate was needed “to protect the Force and defend the American people.”
The vaccines have provided little shielding against infection since Omicron emerged in late 2021, and the protection they provide against severe illness has gone down considerably.
Boosters shots were introduced because of the waning, but research suggests boosters provide a short-lived increase in protection. Every vaccine dose also carries the risk of side effects, including heart inflammation.
The military declined to require booster shots but has kept the primary series mandate in place. The primary series of the two most widely-administered vaccines, made by Moderna and Pfizer, consists of two doses.
“What I would tell you is as a warfighting organization, the health and readiness of our force is paramount. And vaccination for COVID is still a requirement,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a recent briefing.
“But, in terms of discussing proposed or pending legislation, I’m not going to be able to provide a comment on that and won’t have anything further to provide.”
Discharges
The military has forced out some members who refused to get a vaccine, primarily members who have not asked for exemptions or were denied religious exemptions.
The Marine Corps has discharged 3,717 members for vaccine refusal as of Nov. 30. The branch has approved just 23 religious exemption requests out of 3,740 lodged.
The Navy has kicked out 2,064 members for vaccine refusal as of Nov. 30. The Navy has granted 51 religious accommodation requests out of more than 4,000 lodged.
The Army has separated 1,841 soldiers for vaccine refusal as of Dec. 1. The Army has approved 123 religious exemption requests and rejected more than 1,900.
The Air Force separated 834 members for vaccine refusal as of mid-July. It has approved roughly 200 religious exemptions out of about 11,000 received.
Judges have found proof that the branches discriminated against religious members and have paused separations of Marine, Navy, and Air Force members seeking religious exemptions.
Just got a video from a friend in Brazil. EBS went out to stock up on food, water and meds for 15-30 days Military is already on the streets and once lockdown is in place a shoot to kill order goes in to place.
In an unusual step for the military the Army has invaded favelas of Rio de Janeiro and killed top leaders of the Comando Vermelho Red Command drug cartel which supports the communist criminal Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Observers take this to indicate the beginning of a federal military intervention.
BREAKING🚨 – The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, has dissolved congress, declared a state of emergency, declared that a new congress will have the ability to develop a new constitution in a period of no more than 9 months, and declared a national curfew.
The Peruvian Armed Forces have condemned the coup by the far-left President Pedro Castillo, who announced today that he has dissolved Congress to stop it from voting on his impeachment.
Castillo l seems to be fleeing the presidential palace.
Yep! We’re definitely inside a COLLAPSE inside of Germany. ( This is from today .. The whole streets, people phone were ringing and inside the grocery stores everyone froze)….
JUST IN – Denmark ends isolation requirement following positive test and drops special status of COVID in comparison to other diseases, such as the flu.
Are you ready for the FINAL JOURNEY!? My story with The Simpsons was created, because we knew what was COMING… Our Predictions is not CONSPIRICY ANYMORE! – each of our STORIES has PROVEN to be TRUE!
Now it’s time for our FINAL JOURNEY! Togethar we gonna CHANGE our FUTURE!
Patriots, Trump and his team are doing so much more than u know.
This has been and always will be about the children being rescued and the DUMBS dealt with FIRST.
Boots on the ground in DC show federal buildings empty. Having seen small explosions in upper floor windows of the White House says it is empty as well.
People stepping down, retiring, dying etc. is significant. I know we all feel like it’s small potatoes, but it is significant to the bigger picture.
A peaceful transition to military power on Jan 20 2021 is also significant. Razor wire on the INSIDE of fencing around DC is also significant. Meant to keep people in, not out. European countries seeing Biden’s supposed live inauguration many hours before we did, was also significant. Being sworn in 14 minutes early is significant. That means a dual presidency or no president. Again, transition to military power.
Centuries of evil take time to eradicate. Please understand this. If anyone mad and complaining can eradicate this evil any faster, please feel free to do so.
The Trump team is trying to do this thru all legal channels first. Trump and his team have put the left’s agenda on warp speed. Remember had Hillary won, she would have used her 8 yrs to finish us off as slowly as Obama was doing. We all would have still been asleep.
Everyone is getting impatient and mad and the big scare event hasn’t even happened yet. This event is what will wake up the rest of the sleepers.
Please, Patriots, don’t lose faith. God is ultimately in control. Trust in Him, and trust in the one and ONLY man (and his team) who has awakened us to all this. We really don’t want war and bloodshed in the streets. (At least I don’t.)
I believe we are being attacked so hard by the left in hopes we rise and fight them. That will just prove their narrative. They want this. If we stay calm, it shows others they are liars. Again waking some more people. It is imperative that we prove them wrong.
If lefties argue with u or attack u, don’t attack back. Don’t stoop to their level. Give them no ammo against us that they can copy and share to prove we are hateful. Instead use this against them. If we are kind and they attack, screenshot it and post it anywhere ur able. Show ur proof and kill them with kindness. Let them decide to believe it or not. It is up to them. Our job is to simply plant the seeds.
Remember, however long this takes, we got this. This war has already been won.
