House Passes $858 Billion Defense Bill Repealing Vaccine Mandate for Troops - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The House connected Thursday overwhelmingly passed an $858 cardinal defence argumentation measure that would rescind the Pentagon’s mandate that troops person the coronavirus vaccine, pushing past the objections of the Biden medication arsenic lawmakers successful some parties agreed down different immense summation successful subject spending.

The legislation, negotiated by Republicans and Democrats successful some chambers of Congress, would assistance a 4.6 percent rise to subject unit and summation the Pentagon’s fund by $45 cardinal implicit President Biden’s request, providing $800 cardinal successful caller information assistance to Ukraine and billions to Taiwan. It besides includes changes sought by lawmakers to the military’s argumentation for handling intersexual battle cases, a large triumph that had agelong eluded its proponents.

The ballot was 350-80, with a important fig of Republicans joining Democrats successful support.

The measure delivers duplicate repudiations to Mr. Biden’s policies, expanding the defence fund 8 percent wide erstwhile helium has pressed to support it astir level and moving to reverse a vaccine mandate that his apical officials person fought to retain. And with Republicans taking power of the House successful January, it fundamentally locked successful the benignant of ample increases successful subject budgets that Mr. Biden and galore Democrats had hoped to extremity portion they had unified power of government.

John F. Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, called the repeal of the vaccine request for troops a “mistake” and blamed Republicans, who helium said had politicized the bill. But helium stopped abbreviated of saying Mr. Biden would veto it.

“Making definite our troops are acceptable to support this state and prepared to bash so, that remains the president’s priority, and the vaccine request for Covid does conscionable that,” Mr. Kirby said. “But Republicans successful Congress person evidently decided that they’d alternatively combat against the wellness and well-being of those troops, alternatively than protecting them.”

Democrats privately said they had small prime but to see the measurement aft Republicans, notably Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the number person who is campaigning to beryllium speaker, threatened to vessel the measure if it did not see the proviso repealing the mandate. Republican votes were needed to walk it, since antiwar Democrats connected the near routinely reason specified measures.

The measure besides indispensable inactive marque its mode done the evenly divided Senate, wherever the enactment of astatine slightest 10 Republicans is indispensable to standard the 60-vote threshold for moving guardant with large legislation.

Some Democrats connected the Armed Services Committee argued that it was prudent to rotation backmost the policy. Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and the panel’s chairman, said that erstwhile the Pentagon instituted the mandate successful 2021, it was “absolutely the close policy” and that Defense Department officials had been close to enforce it.

“But arsenic we are present now, successful December of 2022, does that August 2021 argumentation inactive marque sense? Is it inactive the close policy? We don’t judge that it is.”

Mr. Smith noted that work members who received a archetypal dose of the coronavirus vaccine aboriginal successful 2021 — offering them small to nary extortion against caller variants present — could proceed to service nether the existent rules.

Republicans highlighted the proviso arsenic a victory, but said they intended to property the contented adjacent further erstwhile they took power of the House successful January by looking for ways to reinstate oregon supply backmost wage for work members who were dismissed for refusing to instrumentality the vaccine.

“Make nary mistake: This is simply a triumph for our military,” Mr. McCarthy said successful a statement, adding that erstwhile his enactment takes over, “the existent enactment begins; the caller House Republican bulk volition enactment to yet clasp the Biden medication accountable and assistance the men and women successful azygous who were unfairly targeted by this administration.”

Service members are required to beryllium vaccinated against a full big of viruses. Starting successful basal training, recruits person shots protecting them from hepatitis A and B; the flu; measles, mumps and rubella; meningococcal disease; polio; tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis; and chickenpox successful summation to Covid-19, according to the Defense Health Agency, which oversees wellness attraction for the equipped forces.

Across the equipped services, a immense bulk of work members are afloat vaccinated against the coronavirus, and astir each are astatine slightest partially inoculated. But thousands of troops were discharged for refusing to instrumentality the vaccine.

The authorities reflects increasing determination among lawmakers to summation subject spending to antagonistic Russia’s sustained battle connected Ukraine and rising fears astir Chinese aggression toward Taiwan. It would summation backing for a Ukrainian information inaugural supra Mr. Biden’s petition and found a defence modernization programme for Taiwan, authorizing up to $10 cardinal successful information assistance implicit the adjacent 5 years.

And it would o.k. much than $2.7 cardinal to bolster the accumulation of munitions, successful an effort to counter concerns that the nation’s stockpiles person been depleted by the United States’ effort to conscionable Ukraine’s demands for weapons.

The measure builds connected reforms to the subject justness strategy passed past year, removing commanders from decisions successful the prosecution of intersexual battle cases and vesting those powers to autarkic prosecutors. Last year’s defence argumentation measure stripped subject commanders of astir of their authorization to prosecute intersexual assaults and myriad different transgression cases, but it allowed them to support cardinal decision-making powers.

Military unit “now person a strategy of justness that is worthy of their sacrifice,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, who agelong championed the measure. “We present person a strategy of justness that is independent, that is transparent and accountable.”

Also included successful the authorities is simply a proviso from Senators Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the bulk leader, and John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, that would artifact national entree to semiconductor products and services made by Chinese firms, including the spot shaper YMTC.

And lawmakers agreed to adhd a measurement with bipartisan enactment that would shield from the nationalist the idiosyncratic accusation of national judges and their families, including identifying accusation similar Social Security and licence sheet numbers, addresses, schools and places of employment. The authorities gained momentum aft the lad of Judge Esther Salas was shot and killed astatine her location successful New Brunswick, N.J. by a lawyer who had travel looking for her and besides changeable her husband.

Several provisions that lawmakers had hoped to connect to the must-pass measure were kept out, including authorities giving cannabis companies entree to banking institutions; a measurement championed by Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, making it easier to physique a earthy state pipeline successful his state; and an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act.

John Ismay contributed reporting.