This past Tuesday evening, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stated that the Biden administration’s current COVID vaccine mandate for the U.S. military is going to soon come to an end.
The comments from McCarthy take place just as House Democrats are reportedly slated to go against President Joe Biden by working with Republicans to get rid of the requirement that mandates all military service members be subjected to the vaccine.
“The end of President Biden’s military COVID vaccine mandate is a victory for our military and for common sense,” stated McCarthy in a statement. “Last week, I told the president directly: it’s time to end the COVID vaccine mandate and rehire our service members.”
Currently, it is expected that the House will carry out a vote to repeal the mandate this coming Friday through the avenue of passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the bill setting up the annual defense policies.
“While I applaud the end of this onerous mandate — the Biden administration must go further,” stated McCarthy. “Unfortunately, the mandate has already had negative consequences for our military: The Army and Navy missed their 2022 recruitment goals by thousands of service members. And, at the direction of the Biden administration, the Defense Department discharged 3,300 Marines, 1,800 soldiers, 1,800 sailors, and 900 airmen simply based on their personal decision to not take the COVID vaccine.”
McCarthy went on to say that the choices from the Biden administration have made it so that the U.S. Armed Forces appear weaker and that the administration must now take strides to correct the issues.
“These heroes deserve justice now that the mandate is no more. The Biden administration must correct service records and not stand in the way of re- enlisting any service member discharged simply for not taking the COVID vaccine,” explained McCarthy. “Make no mistake: this is a win for our military. 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.”
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 The COVID vax mandate on our military is ending.
Last week I told Biden directly: it’s time to end your COVID vaccine mandate on our military & rehire our service members. The end of the mandate is a victory for our military & for common sense.
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/NedBokdwWm
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) December 7, 2022
The newly proposed National Defense Authorization Act would result in the removal of the vaccine mandate for all U.S. Troops, however, it would not officially reinstate any service members that had been discharged or had their benefits revoked for their original refusal to get the COVID jab. The wording of the new NDAA will force the Pentagon to create a way to actually compensate any service member that had been punished for refusing to submit to the vaccine.
