Sen. John Thune: Democrats Trying to ‘Exact Huge Ransom’ from Republicans for Canceling Military Vaccine Mandate

Democrats are using the military vaccine mandate — which could affect the lives of tens of thousands of troops — as a political football, according to the Senate’s number two Republican.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) told Punchbowl News’ Heather Caygle that Democrats are trying to “exact huge ransom” over Republicans in exchange for rolling back the Biden administration’s military vaccine mandate.

Republicans have in recent weeks made a strong push on behalf of troops affected — at some estimates, 40,000 to 60,000 troops remain unvaccinated, despite the Pentagon’s policy to be fully-vaccinated or be kicked out.

Republicans are pushing to add a repeal or modification of the mandate to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a yearly bill that authorizes Pentagon policy and spending typically for the next fiscal year.

Congress is racing to get the NDAA passed before winter recess and particularly before new members are seated on January 3 and the bills have to be started over again.

It is not clear exactly what Democrats are trying to get from Republicans, but they have tried to pack the NDAA with a number of policies and items that are wholly unrelated to defense.

The defense bill text was supposed to be released Monday and voted on Wednesday, but that has been pushed back.

In recent weeks, dozens of Republicans have endorsed rolling back the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate, which has led to the discharge of more than 8,000 troops since August 21, 2021.

Last week, 20 Senate Republicans said they would vote against moving forward with the NDAA until the vaccine mandate is dropped, including defense hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who said this was the first time he had ever done so.

Republicans have made various arguments, including that the vaccine does not stop the spread, that President Joe Biden himself has called the coronavirus pandemic “over,” that CDC no longer differentiates its guidance for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, and that courts have struck down vaccine mandates.

They have also argued the vaccine mandate is dramatically hurting recruitment as well as retention of forces, during a time of historic recruitment difficulties. The Army missed its recruiting goal by about 25,000 troops and is on track to miss its 2023 goal as well.

Thousands of unvaccinated troops have filed for religious exemption from the vaccine, but the Pentagon has largely dismissed those claims, which has drawn scrutiny by the Pentagon’s inspector general, as well as intervention by federal courts around the country to temporarily stop the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps from punishing troops who filed for religious exemption.

Unvaccinated troops have also noted that the Pentagon cannot legally mandate for service members a vaccine for approved under Emergency Use Authorization and not by the FDA.

The Pentagon has argued that the vaccine they have administered to troops and the FDA-approved vaccine are “interchangeable,” while acknowledging they are not legally the same.

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