Rep. Ted Budd and North Carolina’s GOP congressional delegation warned President Biden on Thursday that the White House’s national vaccine mandate could yank police officers off the streets at a time when crime is skyrocketing.
Mr. Budd and his colleagues made the argument in a letter to Mr. Biden and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who is overseeing the mandate’s implementation through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
“We are hearing from agencies across our state about officers considering resignation instead of taking the vaccine,” the lawmakers wrote. “At a time when recruiting for new police officers is declining, our communities cannot afford to have fewer officers on the force.”
Mr. Budd, who is running for an open U.S. Senate seat in his state next year, told the Washington Times that White House policies are putting citizens at risk.
“At a time when violent crime in North Carolina has risen higher than the national average, it’s the height of recklessness for the Biden administration to pursue a mandate that is not only unconstitutional but will ultimately result in fewer police officers on the streets keeping communities safe,” he said. “No employee, either public or private, should be forced to take a vaccine as a condition of their job.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Budd and his colleagues argue the administration’s mandate, which requires employers with more than 100 workers to require vaccination or risk stringent financial penalties, is broad enough to “cover all but the smallest city and county governments, including their police officers.”
“Law enforcement officers have been on the front lines of this pandemic. They cannot telework, they cannot socially distance, and they are essential to our communities,” Mr. Budd and his colleagues wrote in their letter. “The mandate could lead to staffing challenges at police agencies and diminish public safety. This is an unacceptable result.”
North Carolina is one of 25 states that operates its own OSHA program, which is bound by all federal employment and safety regulations. As part of running its OSHA program, North Carolina covers both private sector and public employees.
The means when Mr. Biden issued his vaccine mandate, the state was forced to implement it for all workers with only some minor changes.
The direct result, at least in the case of law enforcement officers, has been a blow to morale. Numerous law enforcement officers and police unions across the country have publicly protested the vaccine mandate.
In some cases, law enforcement officers have even opted to quit rather than be forced into being vaccinated.
Mr. Biden has expressed little sympathy for law enforcement officers and other first responders upset with his decision to impose the mandate. During a CNN presidential town hall last month, Mr. Biden said police officers that refuse to be vaccinated should be fired.
“I waited until July to talk about mandating because I tried everything else possible,” he said. “Mandates are working.”
Complicating matters is that the vaccine mandate coincides with a crime surge nationally. In North Carolina, violent crime jumped by more than 12% between 2019 and 2020, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Law enforcement is at a critical juncture with staffing and this is certainly not the time to mandate law enforcement professionals to have the covid vaccine without consultation of their doctors and medical professionals,” said Randy Hagler, the president of the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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