Congress and the White House are mulling proposals from top lawmakers to repeal the U.S. military’s vaccine mandate several months after President Joe Biden declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be “over,” according to recent media reports.
Congress’ annual defense bill, the text of which is set to be published next week, may include a compromise amendment scrapping the military vaccine requirement, Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington told Politico on Saturday. Smith’s comments followed prospective House leader Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s claims on Friday that House and Senate leaders had come to an agreement, which the White House is considering, on overturning the Biden administration’s service-wide mandate, according to Reuters.
President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and McCarthy had negotiated a bipartisan agreement to end the mandate, McCarthy told Fox News on Friday evening.
“We’re going to see in the NDAA – lift the vaccination mandate on our military men and women,” McCarthy said, referring to Congress’ yearly funding bill for the U.S. military.
However, the White House denied any agreement to scrap the mandate was set in stone, according to Reuters.
via joemiller
