As part of a deal to pass this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Democrats and Republicans in Congress reached a compromise that would eliminate the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The annual budget bill is on ballot this week, with the House Minority Leader (R-California) threatening to withhold military funding if the mandate is not rescinded.
“I told the president it was very clear from the beginning, ‘If he wants the NDAA, we have to lift the vaccination requirements for our military men and women. Why? Because of this, they are currently not meeting their hiring goals.People are leaving.”
Marine Corps generals have also warned that the mandate imposed by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in August 2021 is a major factor in declining military recruitment.
According to the Military, General David Berger said at a panel at the Reagan Defense Forum, “What it certainly affects is the conscription, and in parts of the country there are myths and misconceptions about the backstory behind it. It remains,” said .com.
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R, Tennessee) addressed the issue in a November speech, defending an amendment she introduced to the 2023 NDAA to remove vaccine mandates for military personnel. .
“The outlook looks bleak for the Guardsmen claiming justifiable exemptions, and for the military as a whole. We are going to lose a member of the ,” she said.
Senator Blackburn said the Army is 10,000 short of its target and forecasts a shortfall of 21,000 soldiers in 2023.
“I have introduced two amendments to the 2023 NDAA that inject sanity into these immunization requirements. It prohibited the involuntary separation of service members for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine,” she said. “The second was to allow members of the National Guard or Reserve to maintain access to payments and benefits while requests for religious or health considerations were pending.”
She added: These amendments create simple rules to stop the Biden Department of Defense from transporting its own troops by rail. ”
On Dec. 6, Austin told reporters he had no hard data to show the mandate was affecting hiring.
Republicans have voiced strong opposition to the vaccine mandate since it was enacted last year. As of this summer, tens of thousands of military personnel faced possible discharge for noncompliance with policy.
Democrats admit that part of the reason they were willing to compromise was that attitudes surrounding vaccines had changed.
Rep. Mark Vesey (D-Tex.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said, “The politics around it have changed.” “If this were 2020, it would be a different story.”
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