New Hampshire Republicans Say They’ll Fight Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: Watch

CONCORD, NH — Republican legislative leaders held a news conference outside of the Statehouse in Concord on Tuesday to announce they would be fighting federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates by the federal government.

The event turned into a rally that went off-script a bit as hundreds of attendees demanded the Republicans take action to protect Granite Staters from the Biden Administration's orders to force hospital workers and businesses with more than 100 employees to vaccinate their employees or demand weekly testing — while others wondered where Gov. Chris Sununu was.

House Speaker Sherm Packard (R-Londonderry) stared out at the crowd, calling it a great turnout, and then said, “We will not comply.”

Packard outlined some of the requirements — which included forced vaccination for federal workers and their contractors, paid time off for employees seeking vaccinations, and vaccine passports or testing to attend entertainment events and concerts as an infringement on personal liberty, something New Hampshire residents were fond of.

Two minutes into Packard's speech, rallygoers started yelling, “Where is Sununu?” After a bit, Packard requested people settle down, adding, “We are all on the same page,” to laughs from some in the crowd.

Packard said the political division in America and the state was something he had never seen before. He pointed to the election of Joe Biden as president last year — which seemed to pit Americans against each other and moved the nation from individualism to collectivism almost overnight. Packard said the administration had given off the “epitome of total dictatorship,” via executive orders and mandates.

As businesses were struggling to find workers, the mandate would lead to thousands being fired for not taking the vaccine, Packard said. He called it “unconscionable.” The closure of some hospital wings and services due to the mandate was something the House speaker “unacceptable … from an administration that has no idea what the hell they are doing.”

Packard said House Republicans were unified in making a commitment to fighting federal overreach and called on everyone to work together “to keep the insanity of Washington, D.C., out of New Hampshire.”

State Rep. Kim Rice (R-Hudson), the speaker pro tempore, said the “chaos and confusion around the pandemic” was being caused by the “inept” administration. She said anyone and everyone can speak with a medical provider and make their own decision about the vaccine, in private, over shouts from the crowd of, “We can’t wait.” They did not support bullying of any kind when it came to the vaccine and House Republicans were “the last line of defense against this radical agenda,” Rice added.

“We do not support the insanity coming out of Washington, D.C.,” she said.

Deputy House Speaker State Rep. Steve Smith (R-Charlestown) said while attendees were mad, what made it even worse was that a couple of people in the federal government had the power to order Granite State businesses to fire people over a vaccine.

“That has to change,” he said.

Smith recalled the president telling voters in October 2020 he would not support vaccine mandates and vaccine mandates were not enforceable — while his vice president said during the election she would refuse to take the vaccine if Donald Trump were the president.

State Rep. Fred Doucette (R-Salem) said Republicans and attendees needed to keep the fire and anger they felt alive and keep working together. Voters, he said, had power.

“We are on the same page here, we are on the same team,” he said.

Doucette pointed to the state of labor and called it inappropriate for businesses to be forced to either fire their workers or enforced vaccination mandates. The business owners, he said, knew what was best for their companies and employees.

Toward the end of his comments, however, nurses approached the front of the crowd and began calling on officials to do more than just give speeches.

Terese Grinnell said there were a number of hospitals slated to fire thousands of workers including 900 in the capital region who have four weeks to get vaccinated or they will lose their jobs. She said hospitals in the state received hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to stay afloat — but were not standing by nurses and other employees in their time of need to make personal health care choices.

“I’m on your side,” Doucette countered. “We are all on your side … we get it.”

“We need you,” Grinnell shouted back. “It’s up to you to save our health care workers.”

Packard later told the nurses it was a federal issue and they needed to contact the federal delegation to get them to act.

“We are trying to help,” he said. “You’re yelling at the wrong people.”

After the press conference, Packard was asked whether it was time to hold a special session to address the issue and he said there was a special process for calling for one and the governor could, too. He said the Republicans were talking to the governor about it. Packard also said he believed the federal mandates were a violation of the 10th Amendment.

When asked why a state executive order could not be issued forcing the hospitals to keep their workers employed, regardless of vaccination status, Packard said that was not the way to go.

“We’re working on what we can,” he said. “The governor is working on trying to get a solution together. We are looking into what we can do. This was just done a few days ago. We are working on all possibilities.”

Packard would not comment specifically on what it felt like to be yelled at by some of the attendees.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “People are very angry. But the anger should be at the federal government and the president.”

After the event, state Sen. Donna Soucy (D-Manchester), the Democratic leader, said in a statement that comments made by Doucette, about mandates setting labor and civil rights back hundreds of years, showed “New Hampshire Republicans have no leg to stand on regarding workplace safety, civil rights, or bodily autonomy.” She added, “Today's actions and words by Republican leadership put New Hampshire at a disadvantage in the eyes of the nation.”

On Monday, Sununu issued a statement saying while he was "as pro-vaccine as it gets," he did not support the federal mandates and they were not the answer.

“Instead of working collaboratively with governors across America to increase the vaccination rate, President Biden skips our weekly calls and issues overreaching mandates from Washington,” he said. “I am working directly with my fellow Governors to see how best we can push back against this federal overreach.”

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