Sen. Joe Manchin to vote with Republicans in effort to scrap Biden's business vaccine mandate



Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) – a key vote for advancing White House's agenda – plans to side with Republicans in an attempt to nix President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for businesses.

On Thursday night, the West Virginia Democrat released a statement declaring his opposition to President Biden's order requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to force their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing by Jan. 4.

"In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and as the new Omicron variant emerges, I will not vote to shut down the government for purely political reasons," Manchin said. "There is too much at stake for the American people."

"But let me be clear, I do not support any government vaccine mandate on private businesses," he continued. "That's why I have co-sponsored and will strongly support a bill to overturn the federal government vaccine mandate for private businesses."

"I have long said we should incentivize, not penalize, private employers whose responsibility it is to protect their employees from COVID-19," Manchin wrote.

He advised his constituents to get vaccinated, "I have personally had both vaccine doses and a booster shot, and I continue to urge every West Virginian to get vaccinated themselves."

Tonight I voted to prevent a government shutdown and fund the federal government through February 18th, 2022 through a continuing resolution. My full statement:pic.twitter.com/UBicLvMpeq
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Senator Joe Manchin) 1638498927

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) hopes more Democratic senators join their Republican colleagues in supporting a resolution to roll back Biden's vaccine mandate for businesses.

"President Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate for private businesses is not a partisan issue: it jeopardizes the freedoms and livelihoods of Americans in all 50 states, and I hope that more Democratic Senators and Representatives will follow Senator Manchin’s strong lead and stand up against this federal overreach that will wreak havoc on our recovering economy and trample on the rights of millions of Americans," Braun said on Friday.

Braun told The Hill that he is in talks with a handful of additional Democratic senators to get on board with the resolution.

Republicans introduced the disapproval resolution earlier this year under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). All 50 GOP Senators have already signed on to the resolution challenging President Biden.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) talked about federal vaccine mandates during an appearance on Fox News, and noted that the resolution "has a decent chance of passing the Senate."

“Well, I think there is good news. Multiple courts have pushed the pause button on these government vaccine mandates," McConnell said. "There is a decent chance the courts will strike them down. Secondly, next week we are going to have a vote on the vaccine mandate prohibiting that regulation from going into effect. I think it has a decent chance of passing the Senate.”

The resolution is expected to arrive at the floor of the Senate for a vote next week. If passed in the Senate, the resolution would head to the Democratic-controlled House, where it would likely be voted down. However, if the measure was somehow passed by Congress, President Biden would surely veto the resolution.

Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for 100 million Americans doesn't apply to illegal immigrants



President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a sweeping COVID-19 vaccination mandate for roughly 100 million Americans, but did not institute mandatory vaccinations for illegal immigrants.

"We've been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us," Biden declared, placing blame on the 80 million Americans who have not been vaccinated.

"Nearly three-quarters of the eligible have gotten at least one shot, but one quarter has not gotten any," Biden continued to scold those who are not fully vaccinated. "That's nearly 80 million Americans not vaccinated. And in a country as large as ours, that's 25% minority. That 25% can cause a lot of damage — and they are."

Biden again attacked vaccine-hesitant Americans, "The unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals, are overrunning the emergency rooms and intensive care units, leaving no room for someone with a heart attack, or pancreatitis, or cancer."

Biden reprimanded unvaccinated Americans, who are "supported by a distinct minority of elected officials," and accused them of "keeping us from turning the corner."

Biden's six-point "Path Out of the Pandemic" plan will force U.S. employers with more than 100 employees to require their workers to get the COVID-19 vaccination or mandate weekly testing for coronavirus. Businesses that fail to follow through with Biden's order can face fines of up to $14,000 issued by the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

All federal workers and millions of contractors who do business with the federal government will be required to be fully vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccinations are compulsory for the over 17 million health care workers at hospitals and health care settings that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Biden also called on large entertainment venues to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for people to enter.

The president also called for all states to adopt vaccine mandates for all school employees.

Biden doubled the fines on Americans who refuse to wear masks in airports, airplanes, trains, maritime vessels, and intercity buses.

Amidst Biden's wave of new measures to attempt to decrease the spread of COVID-19, noticeably missing from his plan was requiring illegal immigrants to get vaccinated against coronavirus.

HHS and the CDC require immigrants to receive certain vaccines before they are admitted into the United States:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regulations require that all immigrant applicants receive a medical exam. During the exam, applicants are required to show proof that they have received certain vaccines. If an applicant does not have proof of having received the required vaccines, the law states that the vaccines must be given at the time of the medical exam.

However, the list of required vaccines does not include COVID-19 vaccinations:

  • Mumps
  • Measles
  • Rubella
  • Polio
  • Tetanus and diphtheria
  • Pertussis
  • Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)
  • Hepatitis A
  • Hepatitis B
  • Rotavirus
  • Meningococcal disease
  • Varicella
  • Pneumococcal disease
  • Seasonal influenza

An Axios report from July claimed that 30% of illegal immigrants in custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues its vaccination efforts to include voluntary vaccinations for individuals in the care and custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)," an ICE spokesperson told Axios in July.

ICE reported over 27,000 COVID-19 infections among illegal immigrants in its custody since coronavirus testing began in February 2020. As of Wednesday, there are 851 confirmed COVID-19 cases among detainees who are currently under isolation or monitoring.

The city of McAllen, Texas, said in August there have been more than 7,000 confirmed COVID-19-positive migrants released into the city since February.

Based on a Kaiser Family Foundation survey from May, only 31% of "potentially undocumented" immigrants in the United States got the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 54% of Americans are fully vaccinated.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered about 210,000 migrants at the southern border in July, reaching a number not seen in more than two decades.

President Biden announces sweeping vaccine mandate for employees of large businesses; plan will affect more than 80 million Americans



President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a sweeping vaccination mandate for large businesses that would affect more than 80 million Americans.

Biden's mandate will require employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing for the coronavirus. It will apply to companies with more than 100 workers. He pointed out that many companies already enforce the rule.

The president said that he was enacting the plan because of a recent spike of the pandemic due to the Delta variant.

"We're in a tough stretch," Biden said, "and it's gonna last for a while."

He went on to say that he would issue an executive order that would call for federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated without any exception. This would apply to another 18 million Americans.

"If you want to do business with the federal government, get your workforce vaccinated," Biden said.

Biden went on to say that the 80 million Americans who remain unvaccinated are causing a lot of damage by using up available hospital bed space.

"This isn't about freedom, or personal choice, it's about protecting those people around you, and the people you love," said Biden.

"My message to unvaccinated Americans is this: What more is there to wait for?" he asked rhetorically. "What more do you need to see? We've made vaccinations free, safe and convenient. We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us."

Critics of the Biden administration will no doubt cite the various times that Biden officials and health officials have promised there would be no federal vaccine mandate.

In July, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was not the federal government's role to issue vaccine mandates.

In August, Dr. Anthony Fauci said there would not be a federal vaccine mandate while calling on local governments and businesses to issue their own mandates.

"This is very serious business," Fauci said at the time. "You would wish that people would see why it's so important to get vaccinated. But you're not going to get mandates centrally from the federal government."

Here's more about Biden's vaccine mandate:

President Joe Biden expected to announce 6-pronged approach to combating COVID-19www.youtube.com