'It's a mistake': White House raps lawmakers over troop vaccine mandate repeal

The White House inactive believes that the Pentagon’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for troops should enactment successful place, adjacent arsenic lawmakers are preparing to overturn it, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, Kirby defended the policy, which has travel nether battle from Republicans connected Capitol Hill, and dinged GOP lawmakers who pushed the issue.

“What I would accidental is that we proceed to judge that repealing the vaccine mandate is simply a mistake,” Kirby said. “Making definite our troops are acceptable to support this state and prepared to bash so, that remains the president’s precedence and the vaccine request for Covid does conscionable that.

“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,” Kirby added. “So we inactive judge it’s a mistake.”

A compromise defence argumentation bill unveiled Tuesday evening requires the Pentagon to repeal its vaccine mandate, archetypal issued by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin successful August 2021, wrong 30 days of becoming law.

While the White House and Pentagon person stood by their argumentation successful caller days, the woody was nevertheless made by a Congress led by Democrats.

And Kirby did not bespeak whether President Joe Biden would see a veto of the $847 cardinal argumentation measure implicit the mandate, declining to “get up of process.”

“We’ve noted the language, the league language, but there’s inactive the legislative process up of this.”

He besides noted the immense bulk of the equipped forces person been vaccinated against Covid.

The House votes connected the measure today. If it passes some chambers, the measure volition beryllium sent to the president for his signature.

Alexander Ward contributed to this report.