During today’s House Armed Services Committee hearing on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s failure to notify the President of his recent hospitalization, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz chastised Austin for his hypocrisy in asking Congress for forgiveness and grace while refusing to re-recruit and reinstate the full rank and back pay for the 8,600 service members forced out of the military due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“You didn’t tell the President that you had cancer, that you were being treated for cancer, or that the treatment for that cancer had gone wrong, because you saw it as personal and medical. And I think a lot of us have empathy for you in that regard. But now that you see how personal medical decisions are, will you call for the re-recruitment, restoration of full rank, and back pay for the 8,600 service members who were Vax-mandated out of the military?” asked Gaetz.
“No, I won’t,” replied Austin.
In January, Gaetz signed on to an effort by more than 200 former troops to hold accountable current and former military leaders who implemented President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Read: Rep. Matt Gaetz Of Florida Predicts Moderate Republicans Will Sink Biden Impeachment
The group released what it called the “Declaration of Military Accountability,” which was sent to the top brass at the Pentagon, including Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The effort is being led by Brad Miller, a former Army lieutenant colonel who, according to RedState, left the Army in 2022 after nearly 20 years of service.
The authors of the declaration said they intend to bring accountability and fix the loss of trust and left-wing activism at the Pentagon by running for office or seeking appointments within the federal government. Those on active duty will strive to reach positions of leadership in order to effect change.
The document Miller posted accuses current and former military leaders, such as Brown’s predecessor as Joint Chiefs chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley, of several things in implementing Biden’s mandate.
“Military leaders broke the law, trampled constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion,” the declaration asserts.
Read: Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz Says GOP Needs More ‘Fighting Spirit’ To Beat Back Biden On Border
“Service members and families were significantly harmed by these actions. Their suffering continues to be felt financially, emotionally, and physically.”
It notes that some slipped into homelessness or developed “debilitating” vaccine-related injuries. Some, the document adds, “even lost their lives.”
The declaration goes on to identify Milley, Brown, and other top leaders as those responsible.
“These individuals enabled lawlessness and the unwilling experimentation on service members. The moral and physical injuries they helped inflict are significant. They betrayed the trust of service members and the American people. Their actions caused irreparable harm to the Armed Forces and the institutions for which we have fought and bled,” the declaration says.
“These leaders refused to resign or take any other action to hold themselves accountable, nor have they attempted to repair the harm their policies and actions have caused. Since there has yet to be any accountability, the undersigned give our word to do everything morally permissible and legally possible to hold our own leadership accountable. We intend to rebuild trust by demonstrating that leaders cannot cast aside constitutional rights or the law for political expediency.”
Read: Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz Slams GOP Rivals In CPAC Speech
One key ally is Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican who has been routinely critical of woke military policies implemented under President Joe Biden.
Gaetz participated in a three-hour X-space talk in January that was led by Miller and drew more than 20,000 listeners.
Gaetz praised Miller and the 230 other troops who signed the declaration for the “bottom-up” approach to raising concerns about the rollout of the vaccines.
The Pentagon discharged thousands of soldiers who refused the jab, only to recently invite them back into the military as recruiting efforts have flagged, largely because, as Gaetz and other critics maintain, the Pentagon adopted left-wing politics.
On Thursday, Gaetz continued questioning Austin, “So on March 4, 2021, you authored a memo, it was entitled message to the force. And in that memo, you said that there would be clear and swift accountability for anyone who didn’t meet the highest standards of the Department of Defense. Now, however, this worked out, we all acknowledge that what you did here didn’t meet the highest standards, right? You made a mistake?”
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“So then the question is, what becomes the clear and swift accountability now? You’re not going to be discharged, right? No?” Gaetz asked.
Austin replied, “That’s right.”
“You’re not meeting your own standards that you set for yourself. And you say that the DoD is a learning organization. Haven’t you learned yet that the military is weaker, not stronger, with the 8,600 people that you’ve vax-mandated out of the military?” blasted Gaetz.
“Just one point, congressman. The reason I’m here is because the Chairman requested that I appear to talk about the circumstances surrounding my hospitalization,” said Austin.
“But don’t you see the hypocrisy in it? Because you screwed up, we fix your screw up and now you want grace. But these people who have sought religious exemptions, they got no such grace. And also, I just think it’s ridiculous that we’re in three wars – you went AWOL for three days, and we get two hours with you. If you can’t spend more than two hours answering these questions, I don’t know how you’re really operating all these wars,” asked Gaetz.
Gaetz and other Republicans have championed to get those discharged troops reinstated at their former ranks with full back pay and benefits.
Gaetz added that he and other GOP lawmakers would welcome evidence to boost support for the underlying charges made in the declaration.
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