Washington Examiner: Defunding Biden's Vaccine Mandates is Worth the Risk of a Government Shutdown

Rep. Boebert's op-ed was originally published in the Washington Examiner. 

Today's government funding debate is about so much more than fiscal policy. It is drawing a line in the sand against medical mandates and in favor of personal freedoms.

As members of Congress, we are not rulers; we are merely representatives, entrusted by our voters to secure their God-given rights. The decision whether or not to fund Joe Biden’s unprecedented vaccine mandates should be easy. House conservatives voted against them on Sept. 21, on Dec. 2, and on Feb. 8; we will do so again when Nancy Pelosi brings the next government funding bill to the floor this week. House conservatives stood strong. Now, I am calling on Senate conservatives to do the same.

Far too many senators run like President Donald Trump but legislate like John McCain. The time for lawsuits and rhetoric is over. The time to defund Biden’s four remaining vaccine mandates (targeting military service members, healthcare workers, federal employees, and federal contractors) has come. History will remember whether we stood up or if we stood idly by as the light of liberty, which for so long has defined the American dream, fades to a flicker.

Congress has a duty under Article I of the Constitution — it must not merely shrug and leave it to the courts to safeguard freedom, as some are calling for.

Some worry that by choosing to stand up to the Biden regime, we may force a government shutdown. In reality, Biden is responsible for risking a government shutdown. By unilaterally ramming through mandate after mandate, he has created a constitutional crisis. He is amassing unprecedented executive power that Congress should check by refusing to fund his folly. He has brought us to this moment, and we cannot ignore our obligation to stand up for freedom.

Some also believe that we should rubber-stamp massive budgets every time America is faced with a crisis such as the one in Ukraine. Nonsense. If the last two years have taught us anything, it is that governing by crisis does not work. Furthermore, funding Biden’s vaccine mandate for the military will only weaken American readiness as Biden continues to fire our brave men and women in uniform for refusing to submit to his tyrannical mandate.

If Biden does not remove his vaccine mandates, Congress should not vote to fund his government. If he doesn’t relent, then everyone will know that Biden, Democrats in Congress, and the Republicans-in-name-only would rather shut down the government than stop spending taxpayer money on vaccine mandates.

I am proud of our Senate colleagues who have pledged not to vote to fund the Biden regime’s vaccine mandates, including Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Cynthia Lummis, Mike Lee, Roger Marshall, and Mike Braun.

Biden’s unilateral mandates pose an existential threat to our system of government. It is long past time we use the procedures outlined in the Constitution to rein in Biden’s overreaching mandates that are trampling on our liberties.

So, I ask: Will the real conservative senators please stand up?

Lauren Boebert represents Colorado's 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.