4 Republicans Turn On Their Party – They Were No-Shows To Major Vote, So Biden’s Mandates Stay In Place

Republicans and other conservative lawmakers have been pushing back against President Joe Biden’s mandates. Several governors have sued the administration over the matter as well.

Just this week, Senate Republicans had a chance to block Biden’s remaining federal vaccine mandates, and many right-wing politicians on Capitol Hill were hopeful.

But when 4 GOP members didn’t show up to vote, that hope disappeared.

It’s true that the Supreme Court blocked vaccine mandates for large employees, halting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in its tracks.

However, that was only part of the mandate: the federal government can still enforce other aspects of the rule, including mandates for military members, federal employees, medical workers, and federal contractors.

Several Republican leaders have been fighting to get these removed as well.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Braun (R-IN), Rand Paul (R-KY), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) have all pushed to “defund” these mandates over the past few months.

Then, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed an amendment to the continuing resolution that would do exactly that: defund the mandates.

But Republicans needed all hands on deck for the vote, and it didn’t happen. From Breitbart:

Four Senate Republicans failed to show up to vote on an amendment that would have defunded President Joe Biden’s remaining vaccine mandates, thus ensuring its failure.

The measure failed 46-47, with Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Richard Burr (R-NC) failing to show up, depriving Senate Republicans a potential majority to pass the amendment to the CR.

There’s no way of knowing  how those four Republicans would’ve voted; it’s possible they wouldn’t have supported the amendment, anyway. But the GOP at least needed them to be in attendance.

Sen. Lee wasn’t happy with the outcome, and posted a tweet that said “vaccines are immoral,” along with part of his speech to the floor:

Federal vaccine mandates are immoral. pic.twitter.com/2emONqdVZe

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) February 17, 2022

There were several Democrats who voted to defund Biden’s mandates, including Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT), so the left didn’t have a stranglehold on the vote.

Perhaps more importantly, some Republicans are taking those 4 missing GOP member to task.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said all Senate members “should be held accountable for for voting to fund this government”:

Missing R’s keeping vax mandates alive? Romney (UT), Inhofe (OK), Burr (NC), & Graham (SC). No excuses – they should all be shamed. Now – EVERY @SenateGOP should be held accountable for voting to fund this government. Watch, count the votes, then act. #DefundVaxMandates https://t.co/Wir53zOCmH

— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) February 17, 2022

While many states are pulling back on mandates and restrictions, some still linger. And any remaining federal mandates – like the face mask requirement for airports and planes – might disappear in the next few months.

But that isn’t fast enough for many lawmakers and frustrated citizens.

They claim the mandates were unconstitutional in the first place, and the CDC is vastly overstepping its authority. They also say the Biden administration is “overreaching” as well.

This vote could’ve ended the rest of the federal mandates for good but at least for now, they remain in place.

However, expect the criticism and backlash to continue until all rules, edicts, and mandates are finally gone from America.

Key Takeaways:

• 4 Senate Republicans didn’t show up to vote to defund Biden’s remaining mandates.
• The resolution failed, partly because these 4 GOP members neglected to vote.
• GOP leaders like Rep. Chip Roy were furious, saying all Senators should be held accountable for government funding votes.

Source: Breitbart