Republicans Prepare To Shut Down The Government Over Vaccine Mandates

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Congress only has a few hours left to avert a government shutdown on Friday, and Republicans are making it clear that they won't agree to any continuing resolution deals until Democrats agree to strip funding for the Biden Administration's vaccine mandates. This comes as the first case of the Omicron variant has been identified in the United States, and as cases in many areas go back up. Democrats must hold firm, but that is easier said than done. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

We may be just about 24 hours away from another government shutdown and Republicans in Congress are basically willing to let the shutdown move forward unless Democrats agree to defund the vaccine mandates that are coming down the pipeline from the Biden administration. Specifically, they want to slash funding from OSHA, something Marjorie Taylor Greene called for earlier this week, in order to not be able to enforce those vaccine mandates that are coming in early January. Senator Mike Lee had this to say about it. I'm sure we would all like to simplify the process for resolving the continuing resolution, but I can't facilitate that without addressing the vaccine mandates. Given that federal courts across the country have raised serious issues with these mandates, they haven't, it's not unreasonable for my Democratic colleagues to delay enforcement of the mandates for at least the length of the continuing resolution. So here's what's happening right now.

As we all remember just a couple of weeks ago, there was a continuing resolution to continue funding the federal government up until tomorrow, December 3rd. Well, the deadline's here. There's no deal in sight for another continuing resolution to continue funding, funding the federal government. So we are likely headed for a shutdown. And if Republicans hold firm on their line that they're not going to vote for any resolution that does not include cutting funding for the vaccine mandates, there's no telling how long this shutdown could potentially last. And this is coming at a time when the economy is not very strong. I know the stock market is, but the stock market is not the economy. American people are struggling. A government shutdown would force millions to be furloughed, would cut wages, they wouldn't get paid. Government benefits could slow down. Government services at this time of year are incredibly vital.

We're coming up in the cold season. People need that money. They need their jobs. They need to be able to put on the heat for their family. This is a very bad time of year for them to suddenly stop getting a paycheck because Republicans want to play politics with the budget, because that is 100% what this is about. This isn't because Republicans have actual real qualms about the legality of these mandates. I know Mike Lee mentioned that like, oh, well, the courts are raising concern, the courts are not raising serious concerns about it. They're absolutely not raising serious concerns about it. What they're doing is basically saying, hey, you've made some good points. Unfortunately, mandates are constitutional. So your points don't matter. And yeah, we did have a judge this week that temporarily issued an injunction in 10 states for the mandates for healthcare workers. But that's only a temporary ruling. That is not permanent. The case is still proceeding. So again, Republicans have no actual legal qualms with the vaccine mandates.

What they do not like is that this could help pull us out of the pandemic. If America finally gets enough people vaccinated, which right now you've got about 40% of Republicans who are unvaccinated, about 10% of Democrats.