WASHINGTON – Wednesday, Senator Mike Braun joined Senator Rand Paul, Senator Mike Lee, and Senator Rick Scott in a press conference regarding the end of the COVID vaccine mandate for troops in the National Defense Reauthorization Act and the “omnibus” spending bill being negotiated in the Senate.
Senator Braun opposes the omnibus spending package because of the out-of-control debt spending, the billions in earmarks in the package, the lack of proper budgeting being done in Congress, and because negotiators are working with the outgoing Democratic House majority instead of waiting just a few short weeks for a Republican House that voters chose.
Last week, Senator Braun stood with Republican Senators who pledged not to invoke cloture on the NDAA unless the vaccine mandate was removed: a key reason why the vaccine mandate for troops was dropped. The group is also pushing for all 3,400 troops who were discharged due to COVID vaccine objections to be reinstated with back pay.
Senator Braun was also the first to sound the alarm that Senate “omnibus” spending negotiations meant that outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was fired by voters on November 8, would be given a chance to set the agenda for the next 10 months rather than the incoming Republican Speaker of the House. Senator Braun penned an op-ed calling for a short-term Continuing Resolution to fund the government until the GOP House is sworn in on January 3.
