Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn renews call to protect troops from being furloughed over COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is renewing her push to end the firing of U.S. service members who have refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine under the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate.

A Tennessee lawmaker said Wednesday that protecting troops is his top priority as Congress reconvenes in its lame-duck session to consider the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a mandatory spending bill which funds the military and other national security programs. Blackburn is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has introduced two bills to protect service members from being discharged under President Biden’s COVID-19 policies.

“We continue to push for this. When you have an Army that’s not meeting either its recruiting numbers or its end strength numbers, then it’s imperative that we look at that,” Blackburn told Breitbart News in an interview.

“We’re reaching out to different members trying to make sure they’re fully aware of what we’re trying to do and working with leadership to make sure we’re protecting the men and women in uniform,” he said.

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U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, speaks in Washington, DC on September 13.
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

About 8,000 active duty members have been discharged from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps since Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin imposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in August 2021. Blackburn’s office noted in a news release Tuesday that the Army has only approved 55 religious exemptions for active-duty soldiers, one exemption for a National Guard soldier and one for an Army reservist.

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In October, the Army reported a 25 percent recruiting shortfall, falling short of its goal by about 15,000 soldiers. Opponents of the vaccine mandate have cited the policy as a contributing factor to the depressed military recruitment, but the military has noted that only 23 percent of 17- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. are eligible for the service because of failing test scores, obesity rates. , concerns about sexual harassment in the military and abundant job opportunities as civilians.

A U.S. Marine prepares to receive the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at Camp Hansen on April 28, 2021 in Kin, Japan.
(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Blackburn said continuing to discharge service members to refuse a COVID-19 shot amid historic hiring shortfalls doesn’t make sense.

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He has introduced two pieces of legislation that would amend the NDAA. The first, introduced in July, would prohibit federal funds from being used to enforce the vaccination mandate against a member of the National Guard. The second, introduced in September, would limit separations related to COVID-19 until hiring benchmarks are met and ensure that service members who request religious and health exemptions from the vaccine mandate continue to receive pay and benefits.

Blackburn argued that the military vaccine mandate is ineffective because some who receive the COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots are still susceptible to breakthrough infections.

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“You can get the COVID vaccine, but it doesn’t prevent you from getting COVID. And that’s been proven time and time again by people who have been double-vacxed and boosted, but they still have COVID,” he told Breitbart News . .

“To dismiss these men and women from the military, from the Guard, from the reserves, from our academies because they didn’t shoot them, is ridiculous. And it’s imperative that we stand up and protect our men and women in uniform.” she added.