House passes massive $858 billion defense bill that would scrap military Covid vaccine mandate ...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNBC

POLITICS

House passes massive $858 billion defense bill that would scrap military Covid vaccine mandate, teeing up Senate vote

PUBLISHED THU, DEC 8 2022 * 1:44 PM EST * UPDATED 14 MIN AGO

Christina Wilkie
@CHRISTINAWILKIE
https://twitter.com/christinawilkie

KEY POINTS
-- The House passed an $858 billion bill to fund the Defense Department, sending it to the Senate.
-- The measure includes a provision to scrap the Pentagon’s Covid vaccine mandate for active duty servicemembers.
-- Biden is expected to sign the legislation despite his support for the vaccine mandate.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House has passed a massive bill to fund the Defense Department for fiscal year 2023, teeing up a final vote in the Senate in the coming days that would send the $858 billion behemoth to President Joe Biden’s desk, where he is expected to sign it.

The bill passed the Democratic-controlled House with a strong bipartisan majority, 350 in favor to 80 votes against it.

Among the more than 4,000 pages of legislation is a requirement that the Pentagon drop its Covid vaccine mandate for active duty servicemembers within 30 days of its enactment.

The mandate, originally put in place last year, recently emerged as a lightning rod for conservative Republicans, who threatened to sink the entire bill if it wasn’t rescinded.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/08/house-passes-defense-bill-that-would-scrap-covid-vaccine-mandate.html

[DURHAM D]

1. Collective stupidity. nt

[Midnight Writer]

2. Fine. Let the Republicans refuse to fund our National Defense over some MAGA nonsense.

That won't last long.

Strip the language from the Senate bill and send it back to the House. It's time to start calling the bluff of these wing-nuts. And if the GOP decides to "defund" our National Defense, make sure every American knows why.

[former9thward]

33. The House passed it.

The House is under Democratic control.

[brush]

3. Ridiculous. The military requires multiple vaccines to insure...

military readiness, but magats are faint of heart over covid vaccines? Pls let the Senate be the adults in the room and strip that ridiculousness from the bill.

[Autumn]

4. Ridiculous.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. I had heard on the radio early this morning

that something like 99% of active duty personnel have been vaccinated. Per this, in addition to the active duty personnel, around 97% of DOD employees in general, have been vaccinated as well (I expect not counting qualified exemptions).

[Marthe48]

8. the same antivax people at fox and in congress are vaccinated

but they are working for russia, so undermining U.S. troops in any way assists putin.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Yup

It's all "talking points" to appear to "own the libs" but then their naive flock becomes eligible to win the Herman Cain Award.

[Xipe Totec]

15. So revoking the mandate at this point is moot; a symbolic gesture.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. I think in this case

that was probably a reason to going ahead with final passage of the Authorization (with the expectation that it will be signed by Biden into law - plus based on the House roll call tally, a veto could be over-ridden anyway and I expect the coming Senate tally would probably be the same type of veto-proof majority).

But there is absolutely nothing (other than needing to get the House control back after next year) stopping the Armed Services Committees in Congress from looking at clarifying vaccine mandates in the military and perhaps even codifying it better. So it's one of those things where they can say, "I'll come back and fight another day".

[COL Mustard]

25. You're right, as usual!

I work in a fairly large organization in the Pentagon, and I'm not aware of anyone, military or civilian, who isn't vaccinated with at least the two doses plus at least one booster. (Personally, I'm fully vaxxed and fully boosted and will get whatever other boosters the FDA, NIH, CDC or EIEIO develop, as long as it'll keep me healthy.)

I want to make sure I point out that the vaccines and boosters are not ironclad, or armor against the vaccine. I've had everything in the regimen but I still contracted the virus last summer. My case was moderate but I didn't have to be hospitalized and contrary to what some of my office mates say, I'm not dead! I'm sure I contracted it at a family gathering last summer where most of the attendees were not vaxxed...and they won't get it now, since they've already had it. smdh

[former9thward]

34. The military has a healthy amount of turnover.

It is not a static body.

[Scalded Nun]

6. This is so absurd. Force readiness at the mercy of idiots.

What will they not want to comply with next...and will leadership cave...again?

[Rebl2]

29. Yep!

[Raven123]

7. Heck of s precedent to set.

[SmittyWerben]

9. So, will the military members who were discharged

for refusing to get vaccinated be reinstated? Seems to me that that may be where this ends up.

[PSPS]

32. I think the bill includes letting them back -- with back pay no less! More MAGA deadly foolishness.

[rickford66]

11. Good way to rid the military of MAGA's.

[walkingman]

12. Disappointed but not surprised - it makes no difference who is in office

we worship our wars and needless military spending.

[SledDriver]

18. This!

[Owl]

31. Truth.

[Magoo48]

38. Yup.

War is a fucking racket, and the MIC/War Department budget smothers and starves the monumental goodness which could result from redirecting the national treasure we slather upon their bloody greed.

[EarthFirst]

13. Interesting how an agenda can get attached to the defense budget...

Yet for the rail workers to get a contract; they had to present sick leave as a separate bill.

[Ford_Prefect]

14. The only rules that matter to the GOP are the ones THEY write when they want to.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. There were some Democrats trying to get the John Lewis Voting Rights Act attached to this

and that was waved away.

There was a period (I think after the Budget Control Act was passed) where they really couldn't add riders. But I noticed the past year or so, the earmarks and riders have made a comeback.

[walkingman]

23. Agree - as you exit the majority why not get something for your concession? Maybe

there is more to the story? I suspect that it had to do with the threat of Ukraine funding going forward and I find that disgusting. It would have been really nice to get an agreement on VOTING RIGHTS.

I despise the GOP agenda and am expecting more drinking on my part as they take charge of the house.

[mercuryblues]

16. Fuck that shit

If a soldier can't get a shot to protect a fellow soldier, then I wouldn't trust them in a combat situation.

Conspiracy theorists have no place in the military.

[Peregrine Took]

17. Enlistment is way down except for the Marines.

I guess they don't want anything that might exclude a potential enlistee.

[Evolve Dammit]

21. The anti-vaxxers win this? WTF. Our military needs to be as disease resistent as we can get them.

The vaccines in question are safe and effective. I imagine many military personnel got Covid vaccines on their own time? I know I would have.

[James48]

22. But the bill DOES do something important!

It gives a promotion!

To General Ulysses S. Grant.

It gives him his Fifth General Officer Star-

I’m not kidding.

Section 583.


I just wanted to make a note of something I found in the new National Defense Bill about to be voted on in Congress. It is 4,408 pages long.

You might want to note special provisions in section 583 of the bill.

Section 583 authorizes the PROMOTION of General Ulysses S. Grant S. US Army, to the rank of FIVE-Star General of the Army.

for real.

In the 2023 Unites States National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA Defense Bill.)

“Sec. 583. Posthumous appointment of Ulysses S. Grant to grade of General of the Armies of the United States.”

https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-117HR7776EAS-RCP117-70.pdf

Now, don’t you feel better?

#Legislativenerd-I-read-the-bills

[former9thward]

37. I am sure that item was worth the $858 Billion by itself.

Although if given a choice Grant would rather have a bottle of whiskey.

[24601]

39. To clarify, it doesn't promote Grant to a 5-star general. It authorizes the President to promote

one rank higher, specific General of the Armies. The NDAA does address the number of stars.

The five-star General of the Army rank (and it's navy equivalent of Fleet Admiral) were WWII creations designed to provide equivalency with other nations' positions such as Field Marshal. Only Omar Bradley was promoted to General of the Army after WWII.

When General of the Army was established, General of the Armies John J. Pershing was still alive and the administration wanted it to be clear that the newly-created five-star rank would remain junior to Pershing - who never wore more than 4 stars. On at least one occasion, Pershing did wear 4 gold stars and this provided a difference from a General's 4 silver stars.

the NDAA permits promotion of Grant to the higher rank. If the President exercises the authority to promote Grant, he would join Pershing and Washington as the third officer holding the rank.

[Xoan]

24. Idiocracy Lives!

[GB_RN]

26. As A Medical Professional...

I'm an RN, I strenuously object to Congress doing this. Not only does it set a bad example for the public at large, but it puts the readiness of our military forces at risk. This is extremely short sighted and ignorant.

[area51]

35. +1

I'm not a medical professional, but the republinazis keep whining about how a "woke" military won't be ready; it's more likely that an unvaxxed military will be too sick to be ready.

[70sEraVet]

27. I remember back when I was in boot camp, we were lined up for our shots, and one guy

broke down in tears and made a scene about getting the shots.
They sent him home.

[former9thward]

36. Maybe he was real, maybe not.

People do all sorts of things to get out of boot. We had a couple people throw themselves down stairwells to get out.

[Curtis]

28. The very reason

that we cannot afford nice things like free college, universal medical and dental, proper cost of living for those on Social Security, proper programs for the poor and homeless, etc.

$858,000,000,000.00

[Owl]

30. Exactly.

[Tom Rinaldo]

40. This view may be controversial

But to start off, to be clear, I support the vaccine mandate and think it is poor policy to remove it. Having said that, the importance of a decision by an individual not to be vaccinated is somewhat less important now than it previously was. Early variants of Covid-19 were far more likely to be stopped in their tracks upon encountering a vaccinated person, and therefor every person vaccinated became unlikely to pass the virus on. Covid has mutated to the point where vaccinations are becoming significantly less effective at preventing transmission. The current primary advantage of vaccination, and it of course is huge, is the effectiveness of the vaccine in sharply reducing negative consequences of a Covid infection among those vaccinated. That is a major advantage to the individual, and dramatically lessons pressure on our health system in general, but the days when we hoped that we could shut down Covid by achieving "herd immunity" via vaccinations are over, unless some much more effective vaccines emerge.