Biden signs National Defense Authorization Act

Biden signs National Defense Authorization Act

President Joe Biden has signed the $858 billion defense bill that ends the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate into law on Friday morning.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will allot $816.7 billion in funding to the Defense Department.

The strength and preparedness of our military is a direct deterrent to our adversaries.

The FY23 NDAA:
✅Gives our troops their largest pay raise in 20 years
✅Resupplies our depleted weapons stock
✅Makes certain our troops have the equipment to complete their missions pic.twitter.com/WuAoEdEiG6
— Senator Jerry Moran (@JerryMoran) December 16, 2022

This act will authorize a 4.6% pay raise for military and civilian members of the Department of Defense and $45 billion more than originally requested to be able to counter the effects of inflation and speed up the implementation of the National Defense Strategy.

It will give $30.3 billion for national security programs in the Department of Energy and the Defense Facilities Safety Board, as well as $378 million for other defense-related activities.

The most notable part of this bill however, is that it will effectively end the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for military personnel. The mandate was put into effect by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on August on 24, 2021.

Over 8,000 service members have been terminated for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Today, I supported passage of the NDAA that rescinds the Biden Administration’s harmful and pointless COVID-19 vaccine policy. pic.twitter.com/uii6KMIEXa
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) December 16, 2022

Even though Congress had approved the removal of the mandate, Austin still claims that the mandate is necessary in order to protect military readiness and still clearly supports the mandate.

The newly signed National Defense Authorization Act will fund the Defense Department through fiscal year 2023.