Congressional Democrats are set to hand Republicans a major victory — and President Joe Biden a defeat — as they are preparing to include language in the defense funding bill that will repeal the controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all military personnel.
The Daily Mail reports that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will include a directive to end the mandate, but it will not allow personnel who have already been dismissed for refusing the shot to return to active duty.
They might, however, be able to be compensated for any consequences they faced.
The bill is set to be released on Wednesday and voted on later this week.
Republicans have opposed the mandate from the outset.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said he wants to keep the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place to protect the health of the troops.
"We lost a million people to this virus," Austin told reporters traveling with him Saturday. "A million people died in the United States of America. We lost hundreds in DOD. So this mandate has kept people healthy."
"I'm the guy" who ordered the military to require the vaccine, Austin added. "I support continuation of vaccinating the troops."
Last year Austin directed that all troops get the vaccine or face potential expulsion from the military; thousands of active duty forces have been discharged since then for their refusal to get the shots.
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who is vying to become speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said he had won bipartisan agreement to lift the mandate at a White House meeting with Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
McCarthy said earlier this month it would be repealed as part of the must-pass $817 billion NDAA. But the White House said Biden had agreed only to consider the idea.
"Leader McCarthy raised this with the president and the president told him he would consider it," said White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton. "The secretary of defense has recommended retaining the mandate, and the president supports his position. Discussions about the NDAA are ongoing."
The mandate, which was imposed in August 2021, requires all U.S. service members to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
"You know what I was able to achieve in that meeting? ... We're going to see in the NDAA — lift the vaccination mandate on our military men and women," McCarthy, the top House Republican, said in the Fox News interview.
The Pentagon's vaccine mandate has been the object of intense opposition from Republican conservatives, including several House lawmakers who are threatening to block McCarthy from becoming speaker when Republicans take control of the chamber on Jan. 3.
According to Defense Department data, 3,717 Marines, 1,816 soldiers and 2,064 sailors have been discharged for refusing to get vaccinated. But federal courts this year have blocked military services from punishing personnel who have refused the vaccines on religious grounds.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed.
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