U.S. Army / Capt. Daniel Parker

GOP Senators Agitate for Vote To Repeal Vaccine Mandate

Sen. Paul said 20 senators have pledged to vote against moving the defense policy bill forward unless their amendment is brought to the floor.

A group of Republican senators said they would try to block the annual defense policy bill unless they’re allowed to vote on repealing the Defense Department’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

“I think the policy of discharging people simply because they refuse to get this vaccine at this time makes no sense,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday during a press conference at the Capitol. “We in Congress have the ability to change this policy…I want to urge DOD to change your policy. It literally is insane, I think, to drive men and women out of the military at a time [when] we have recruiting shortages because of a refusal to take this vaccine.”

The Pentagon mandated the coronavirus vaccine for all troops in August 2021, just after the Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine. As of Oct. 25, more than two million service members had been fully vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccine is just one of the shots required for troops. 

The senators repeatedly questioned the wisdom of the controversial mandate during a military recruiting crisis.

“At a time when the military is struggling to meet their targets for recruitment, the Biden administration is firing soldiers we invested in and trained,” said Rand Paul, R-Ky.

In April, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pushed back against Republican House members who attributed recruitment shortfalls to the vaccine mandate. He said a number of other factors have made recruiting more difficult in recent years, including low unemployment and the lack of recruiter access to high school students during the pandemic.  

At the Wednesday press conference, senators criticized the mandate for forcing out thousands of troops who refused to get the vaccine. More than 8,200 service members have been separated from the military so far, according to data from the service branches. The Marine Corps has ejected 3,584 troops, the Navy, 2,064; the Army, 1,816; and the Air Force and Space Force, 834 troops total.

As of Oct. 13, more than 449,000 troops had been infected with COVID-19. Of those, 2,703 were hospitalized and 96 died, according to the Pentagon.

While a few of the Republican senators Wednesday said they have been vaccinated, they said troops may have health or religious reasons for refusing the shot.

“If you choose to get the vaccine, that's your choice…But if you choose not to get the COVID vaccine, that should also be your choice. That should also be your right,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Congressional leaders this week have been putting final touches to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, with hopes of putting it up for a vote in the House next week. 

On Wednesday, 13 GOP senators sent a letter to Republican leaders, saying they oppose ending debate on the NDAA unless the Senate votes on an amendment that would ban involuntary separations based on a service member’s COVID-19 vaccine status and reinstate and give back pay to those who have left because of the mandate and want to return. 

Paul—one of the letter’s signatories—said 20 senators in total have pledged to refuse to invoke cloture, a procedural move that is necessary before the Senate can vote on the bill. 

But 41 would be needed to prevent cloture.

“Yes, the NDAA is sacrosanct around here. Sooner or later, you got to start using something when the reason is strong enough to make sure that you're getting something that needs to be fixed and not just go along to get along,” said Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.

Paul said that most of the senators at the press conference want to vote on the defense bill, “but the NDAA is about setting policy. So we're trying to set policy, a fair and honest policy that's consistent with the science, but also consistent with respecting our young men and women who put their lives forward for us. We should respect and allow them to make some of their own medical decisions.”

Pentagon officials declined to comment on the pending legislation.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.