Some Republicans Push to Use Government Funding Battle to Block Spending on Vaccine Mandate

Some House Republicans are reportedly attempting to tie efforts to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates to federal government funding.

As government funding runs dry and must be replenished by a continuing resolution before February 18, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has asked House and Senate Republicans to co-sign a letter pledging to block government funding until the financing of vaccine mandates is defunded, Fox News reported.

The letter has reportedly gained support from more than 12 conservative House Republicans, but House Democrats are likely to tank the initiative unless Roy can earn support from enough Senate Republicans.

In December, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other Senate Republicans voted to fund the government with vaccine mandate money after promising not to for weeks.

At that time, only a few Senate Republicans reportedly supported shutting down the government until vaccine mandates were defunded, including Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Roger Marshall (R-KS).

Roy seemed to realize his initiative is an uphill battle without the support of McConnell.

“Will at least 10 of the 19 GOP senators who voted to punt last time now stand up for health care workers or not?” Roy asked in a Fox News interview. “We’re going to find out.”

“Congressional Republicans cannot continue to abdicate their Article I duties in hopes the judicial branch will rule in favor of the American people,” he added.

According to Fox News, part of the letter reads:

Therefore, we the undersigned refuse to consider supporting any federal government funding vehicle, be it a continuing resolution or an omnibus appropriations measure, that funds the enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandates at any level of government.

The courts in January struck down President Biden’s vaccine mandates for employees of large private companies and federal government contractors.

Congressional support for defunding vaccine mandates may have increased since those rulings.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø