During consideration of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 2226), Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) offered an amendment to “Prohibit the Secretary of Defense from issuing any replacement Covid-19 vaccine mandate without Congressional approval.” Cruz’ amendment would also require the Department of Defense to (1) “reinstate any service member separated solely for Covid-19 vaccine status who wants to return to service”; (2) “restore the rank of any service member demoted solely for Covid-19 vaccine status”; (3) adjust to “honorable” any “general” discharge given due to Covid-19 vaccine status; (4) “expunge … any adverse action based solely on Covid-19 vaccine status”; and (5) “make every effort to retain service members not vaccinated against Covid-19.”
The Senate rejected Cruz’ amendment on July 26, 2023 by a vote of 46 to 53 (Roll Call 199). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because it is unconstitutional to force vaccinations on people.