President Joe Biden vetoed his own administration’s requirement that troops receive the Covid vaccine when he signed a $847 billion defense strategy plan on Friday.
This month, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, which sets annual goals for military spending and policy. The Biden administration’s planned defense budget would receive a massive $45 billion boost under the compromise bill, representing a roughly 10% increase over the prior year in military spending.
After Biden’s signature, a military bill has been passed for 62 years in a row, according to a statement from the White House.
Despite the commander-in-approval, chief’s the administration has voiced concerns to Congress on a number of items.
The Pentagon’s vaccine mandate, announced by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in August 2021, must be rescinded within 30 days of becoming law, according to one of these policy variances.
Republicans pushed hard to overturn the rule that forced thousands of soldiers who refused the shot out of the armed forces, claiming it hurts a tense recruiting situation. The repeal is a victory for them. Finally, Democrats on Capitol Hill decided to scrap the requirement.
Republicans were criticized by administration officials, who said that the action jeopardizes the health and readiness of the armed forces, but they finally cited the military’s high immunization rates as an example of success.
The military bill, however, does not prevent the Pentagon from announcing a new vaccination requirement in the upcoming months, so Austin may adopt a new policy after the previous instruction is revoked. That would probably lead to conflict with the GOP-controlled House the next year, when Republicans are anticipated to keep pushing the Pentagon to reinstate troops who were expelled and pay them back pay.
The package also slashes Biden’s proposed Pentagon spending, which was roundly rejected by both parties as being insufficient to combat China and Russia and to lessen the consequences of inflation.
In the end, Congress approved additional funding to buy more ships and aircraft as well as to offset the effects of inflation on the Pentagon, the defense industry, and troops.
The final agreement increases national defense funding by $45 billion over Biden’s request, to $847 billion. Of total, $817 billion goes to the Pentagon, while $30 billion is allocated to nuclear weapons development run by the Energy Department. When funds that are typically under the purview of the armed services committees are taken into consideration, the overall figure comes to $858 billion.
The budget increase won’t take effect until Congress passes financing legislation, which is anticipated to happen soon. The omnibus government spending package that the Senate approved on Thursday matches the government budget levels specified in the military bill. The proposal is scheduled for a vote in the House on Friday, and Biden is anticipated to sign the budget agreement soon after.
