Conservative members of Congress are pushing — using the upcoming fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — to repeal the U.S. armed forces’ Covid vaccine mandate and reinstate service members who were discharged because of it.
On November 30, 13 U.S. Senators signed a letter addressed to Republican Senate leadership declaring their opposition to passing the NDAA unless a vote is held on an amendment to repeal the mandate and reinstate the discharged service members. That same day, 21 governors signed a letter, addressed to Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, calling for the mandate’s repeal.
These followed an October 11 letter by the House Freedom Caucus, sent to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), urging them to oppose the NDAA’s passage unless the mandate is repealed, among other reforms:
Republicans must demand that the NDAA:
(1) fully repeals the vaccine mandate and allows service members involuntarily discharged to be reinstated without penalty;
(2) ends the contamination of our military by radical Leftist “woke” ideologies and the prioritization of politics over combat readiness;
(3) halts wasteful spending on “Green New Deal” pet climate projects; and
(4) establishes a Special Inspector General on U.S. involvement in Ukraine.
These letters appear to be influencing Republican leadership; in mid-November, McCarthy threatened to delay the bill over “the woke-ism [Democrats] want to bring in there,” and on Sunday he called for delaying the bill specifically over the vaccine mandate. Additionally, Representative Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), the incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, stated he would push to end the Covid jab mandate.
Enacting the NDAA is one of Congress’ priorities for the 2022 lame-duck session, with the House expected to move forward with the bill this week. The NDAA, passed annually by Congress, sets the armed forces’ policies and priorities.
