Congress Ends the Military Vaccine Mandate. Jean-Pierre: Republicans 'Rather Fight Against the Health' of Troops (December 7, 2022)

Congress was about to scrap the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and the White House blamed Republicans for it. “And then secondly, on the National Defense Authorization Act, it doesn’t include a military COVID vaccine mandate. Is the President’s objection to removing that mandate so strong that he’s willing to veto the NDAA?” a reporter asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Dec. 7, 2022 [1].

“I will note — just to be very, very clear here — what we saw, what we think happened here is Republicans in Congress have decided that they’d rather fight against the health and wellbeing of our troops than protecting them,” Jean-Pierre said, according to the official White House transcript [1].

“And we believe that it is a mistake what we saw — what we saw happen on the NDAA, as it relates to the vaccine mandate. Making sure our troops are prepared and ready for service is a priority for President Biden. The vaccination requirement for COVID does just that,” she said [1].

The video above shows the exchange at the Dec. 7, 2022, briefing. Quotes are from the official White House transcript, the American Presidency Project and the White House [1][2][3].

”Not Going to Get Ahead of the President”

Jean-Pierre would not say whether Biden would veto the bill. “So I don’t want to get ahead of the process. As we know, there’s the — there — we know there’s the conference language. There’s still the legislative process that has to move ahead on this,” she said [1].

“But every year, as you know, the NDAA has some provisions we support and some we do not. And what the President is going to do is he’s going to judge this piece of legislation — this bill — on its entirety when that occurs,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

She offered numbers. “Look, before COVID vaccine existed, nearly 700 Department of Defense personnel and service members died of COVID. Almost 100 of them were active duty. And so, since this past spring, there has been one death due to COVID. So vaccinations work and save the lives of our service members. So we believe that it was a mistake,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

”A Little Bit More Breathing Room”

The briefing came the day after Democrat Raphael Warnock won Georgia’s Senate runoff. Jean-Pierre said the win “gives us a little bit more breathing room, a little bit more ability to deliver for the American people.” [1]

She credited the 2021 stimulus. “And when you think about the American Rescue Plan, the first big piece of legislation that this President passed with only Democratic votes, which met the moment that he walked into with an economy that was really tanking,” she said [1].

“What the American people want is they want to continue the agenda that the President has had the last two years,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

She repeated the midterm message on entitlements. “They don’t want our Social Security or our Medicare to be put on the chopping blocks. And that’s what Republicans officials were putting out there as their plan,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

A reporter asked what the extra Senate seat would buy. “If you could, with a look ahead, going forward, lay out for us where you think you’ll have the most breathing room. Is it specifically judicial nominees?” [1]

Jean-Pierre said “that judicial nominees is a — is a priority for this President. That’s something, clearly, that we want to move forward on and continue — continue our successes.” [1]

“We’ve — you’ve seen the success of judicial nominees as it relates to this President’s first two years, making sure that we have put forth a historic amount of Black women to — you know, to judgeships. And so the President wants to continue to do that,” she said [1].

Biden Signed It Anyway

Biden did not veto the bill. “Today, I have signed into law H.R. 7776, the ‘James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023’ (the ‘Act’),” he wrote on Dec. 23, 2022 [2].

In the same statement, Biden objected to something else in the bill: limits on moving Guantánamo Bay detainees. “Section 1031 of the Act likewise would continue to prohibit the use of such funds to transfer certain Guantánamo Bay detainees into the United States,” he wrote. “I urge the Congress to eliminate these restrictions as soon as possible.” [2]

The mandate was gone weeks later. “On August 24, 2021, the Secretary of Defense mandated that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The Secretary of Defense later rescinded the mandate on January 10, 2023,” a 2025 White House order recounts [3].

”Congressmen [Congresswomen]”

Jean-Pierre opened the briefing with a bill signing and two slips in one sentence. “Finally, this morning, the President signed the Speak Out bipartisan legislation — Speak Out Act — I should be clear there — bipartisan legislation that will enable survivors to speak out about workplace sexual assault and harassment,” she said [1].

“Today’s bill was passed thanks to part of — to the extraordinary leadership of Gretchen Carlson and other survivors and advocates, as well as Congress- — Congressmen [Congresswomen] Lois Frankel and Cheri Bustos and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Mazi [sic] — and Mazie Hirono,” Jean-Pierre said. The bracketed corrections are in the official transcript [1].

By the Numbers

Nearly 700: Defense Department personnel and service members who died of COVID before vaccines, per Jean-Pierre [1].
Almost 100: of those who were active duty, per Jean-Pierre [1].
Aug. 24, 2021: the day the mandate was ordered [3].
Jan. 10, 2023: the day it was rescinded [3].

What Happened Next

Trump brought them back. On Jan. 27, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reinstate troops discharged over the shot. “The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members. Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received,” the order says [3].

It directed the Pentagon to “make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who request to be reinstated” and to “enable those service members reinstated under this section to revert to their former rank and receive full back pay, benefits, bonus payments, or compensation.” [3]

For Jean-Pierre on the Griner-for-Bout swap the next day, see HYGO News’ page on Dec. 8, 2022.