President Joe Biden’s administration is considering repealing Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s proposal US military covid-19 vaccine mandate, the White House said on Saturday.
McCarthy, who is in the running to become speaker of the US House of Representatives, previously told Fox News that he discussed raising the mandate at a White House meeting with Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Senate Republican leader. A bipartisan agreement won. Mitch McConnell.
McCarthy said it would be rescinded as part of policy setting policy for the $817 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, an annual bill for the Pentagon that is expected to pass the Senate and House of Representatives this month.
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But the White House said Biden only agreed to consider the idea.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton said, “Leader McCarthy raised the issue with the President, and the President told him he would look into it.” “The Secretary of Defense has recommended maintaining the mandate, and the President supports his position. Discussions regarding the NDAA are ongoing.”
The mandate, which was put into place in August 2021, requires all US service members to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“You know what I was able to accomplish in that meeting? To be able to — we’re going to look into the NDAA — lift the vaccination mandate on our military men and women,” McCarthy, the top House Republican, said in the interview. , which aired late Friday nights.
“I know I’m going to get that,” McCarthy said. “We’re working it out right now. I believe we’re going to…get it.”
There was no immediate comment from the other three Congress leaders at the meeting.
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 barred the military services from punishing personnel who refuse vaccines on religious grounds.
McCarthy presented the vaccine mandate deal as an indication of how he would lead the House as speaker. He also rebuffed conservative criticism over his appearance at a White House state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron.
“These are the things we’re going to do with the new Republican majority,” McCarthy told Fox News.
“If anyone wants to argue about whether I will properly represent this country and honor the first ally who helped us build this country, I don’t think their heart is in the right place.”