Service leaders said the number of troops who requested religious or other exemptions to any other required vaccines before the COVID pandemic was negligible.
Rep. Adam Smith, Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told colleagues that the decision to impose the vaccine mandate was the right call at the time.
More than 8,000 active-duty service members were discharged for failure to obey a lawful order when they refused the vaccine. Service leaders have said that the number of troops who requested religious or other exemptions to any of those required vaccines — prior to the COVID pandemic — was negligible.
The defense policy legislation is critical in shaping the military’s future. It sets the maximum number of service members authorized to be in the various branches of the military. It authorizes money for specific major weapons programs and it establishes pay and benefits. This year’s bill authorizes money to support a $4.6% pay raise for military members and the Defense Department’s civilian workers.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the Pentagon’s COVID vaccination policy, but said Biden would judge the bill “on its entirety.”
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