BREAKING NEWS: House passes $858 billion defense bill removing military vaccine mandate despite pleas from Biden administration and Pentagon
- The House of Representatives passed the massive $858 billion NDAA on Thursday
- Contains language that would eliminate the military COVID-19 vaccination mandate
- Bill now goes to the Senate for a vote before going to President Biden’s desk
- Biden opposes removing DoD vaccination mandate for US service members
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday, paving the way for next year’s defense budget to reach a record $858 billion.
The total is $45 billion more than President Joe Biden proposed.
The 4,000 pages of legislation contain language, to the President’s dismay, that would relieve the Pentagon of its mandate that all military members be vaccinated against COVID-19.
If it becomes law, the mandate would be dropped for all active duty members within 30 days of its passage.
In the final vote, MPs from both parties voted 323 to 70 in favor of the non-partisan financing law. 45 Democrats and 35 Republicans voted against passing the NDAA.
With 174 Democrats and 176 Republicans on board, the House of Representatives surpassed the two-thirds majority required to pass the law. Now the Senate will consider the bill before it goes to Biden’s desk.
The House of Representatives on Thursday surpassed the two-thirds majority needed to pass the massive $858 billion NDAA, coming at a cost $45 billion higher than President Joe Biden was asking for
If passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President, the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate will be abolished
The president’s spokeswoman declined to say whether Biden would veto the bill to remove mandatory vaccinations for all US troops, but said the White House believes it was a “mistake.”
The mandate, originally introduced in August 2021, became a major issue for conservative Republicans, who threatened to scuttle the entire law if it wasn’t repealed.
“Republicans have decided that they would rather fight against the welfare of our troops, and we believe that is a mistake,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her briefing on Wednesday. “Ensuring our troops are prepared and ready for action is a priority for President Biden, and mandatory vaccination does just that.”
The president’s chief spokesman added, “I don’t want to prejudge the process” when asked to comment on whether Biden would veto the funding bill based on the provision added to the NDAA.
“As you know, each year the NDAA has some provisions that we support and others that we do not support,” she said. “And what the President will do is he will judge this bill — this bill — in its entirety when that happens.”