Senate Republicans Had A Chance To Force Dems Into Defunding Covid Jab Mandates, And They Blew It
Senate Republicans declined to protect people’s right to decide what goes into their own kids’ bodies by caving to Democrats’ budget demands this week.
Despite efforts by some conservative legislators to defund Covid-19 jab mandates and shut down the radical, Democrat-controlled government, 19 Senate Republicans voted with leftists to pass a budget extension that was already approved by the House earlier this month.
Sen. Ted Cruz was one of the GOP members who tried to strategically cut off federal funding for schools and child care centers that are forcing the Covid shot on children through an amendment to the budget. Cruz said drastic action was necessary to combat an “absolute abuse of power.”
“Enough is enough. It’s time to stop the petty tyrants imposing Covid-19 vaccine mandates on families across the country,” Cruz said when he introduced the amendment. “No child should be denied an education because of his or her personal medical choice. Schools shouldn’t get federal taxpayer dollars to trample on our constitutional liberties. It’s time for all of us to take a stand. Are you with parents and kids, or power hungry politicians?”
The amendment garnered some support from his fellow GOP senators but not enough. Two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Roy Blunt of Missouri, voted against the amendment while another four Republicans — Sens. Richard Burr, Lindsey Graham, Jim Inhofe, and Mitt Romney — did not vote on it at all, against Cruz’s urgings.
“The only way Dems win the vote is if Rs skip town,” Cruz tweeted on Thursday. “Don’t!”
Sen. Mike Lee also proposed an amendment to defund jab mandates for medical workers, military personnel, federal employees, and others whom President Joe Biden has tried to force into getting the jab with ultimatums.
Ultimately, Cruz’s amendment failed in a 44-49 vote. Lee’s also failed in a 46-47 vote.
Internal Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee polling suggests that at least 57 percent of voters in swing districts for the upcoming 2022 midterms think “Democrats in Congress have taken things too far in their pandemic response” but that didn’t stop some Senate Republicans from refusing to force Democrats’ hands into denouncing vaccine mandates. Instead, after Cruz and Lee’s amendments failed, 19 GOP members voted in favor of giving the leftist-controlled government more time to grab for funding.
Among them were Blunt, Collins, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Sen. John Kennedy of Lousiana, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Sen. Robert Portman of Ohio, Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and Sen. Todd Young of Indiana.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, thanked Republicans, especially McConnell, “for helping us get this done.”
“We have kept the government open. It took some work, especially when the Senate rules lend themselves to delay and obstruction,” Schumer said.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire and Fox News. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordangdavidson.
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