{"id":356855,"date":"2026-07-01T05:27:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T05:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/356855\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T05:27:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T05:27:29","slug":"rep-joaquin-castro-blasts-hegseth-for-lackland-flu-outbreak-calls-to-reinstate-vaccine-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/356855\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Joaquin Castro blasts Hegseth for Lackland flu outbreak, calls to reinstate vaccine mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"U.S.U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro held the joint press conference in Austin to call for reinstating the flu vaccine mandate for military servicemembers. Credit: Stephanie Koithan<\/p>\n

At a joint press conference, Democratic U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro, Gil Cisneros and Chrissy Houlahan introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reinstate the mandate requiring service members to get the flu vaccine.<\/p>\n

San Antonio\u2019s Castro and Houlahan, who represents a district near Philadelphia, also condemned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for repealing the mandate in April<\/a>, a \u201cshort-sighted\u201d act they said triggered the current flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base. <\/p>\n

At present, 284 troops at the San Antonio installation are infected and four are hospitalized, Castro said.<\/p>\n

Since the 1940s, every service member has been required to get the flu vaccine, and the military has avoided major outbreaks for decades. However, it took just two months for an outbreak to occur at Lackland \u2014\u00a0the nation\u2019s largest military base \u2014\u00a0after Hegseth\u2019s April repeal. <\/p>\n

\u201cAny policy decision affecting our service members\u2019 quality of life should be guided by science, not fringe theories,\u201d said Cisneros, who represents California\u2019s San Gabriel Valley.<\/p>\n

Adherents to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda believe vaccines can cause autism and other ailments, and pushback against vaccinations requirements have become common talking points for many right-wing politicos. <\/p>\n

When announcing that he was repealing the mandate in an April video<\/a>, Hegseth cited \u201cmedical autonomy\u201d and called earlier Pentagon requirements \u201cabsurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war fighting capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Lackland\u2019s current outbreak, a trainee named Keon McDaniel died June 16 at Brooke Army Medical Center after suffering a medical emergency. At the conference, Castro demanded an investigation to determine whether McDaniel\u2019s death was related to the outbreak.<\/p>\n

Castro added that Hegseth put soldiers\u2019 lives at risk and has jeopardized the USA\u2019s military readiness in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cA soldier who is sick cannot fight effectively,\u201d Castro said.<\/p>\n

Houlahan, who served in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves, called for military decisions \u201cbased on evidence and not on ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReadiness begins at healthiness,\u201d she said, blasting Trump\u2019s Defense Department for \u201cturning aside from knowledge and evidence and science \u2026 not because the science had changed, not because military medicine had changed, but because ideology had changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only 40% of new recruits opted for the vaccine after the mandate was repealed two months prior to the outbreak, the Associated Press reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen our troops volunteer to risk their lives for our country, the least we can do is not ask them to risk their lives because their leaders abandoned decades of military medicine,\u201d\u00a0Houlahan said. \u201cThe House Rules Committee\u2019s refusal to make our amendment in order was a missed opportunity to right Secretary Hegseth\u2019s wrong and to put military readiness ahead of politics. We owe our servicemembers better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Infectious disease spreads very quickly in the close quarters of military boot camps, Houlahan added. Lackland handles roughly 700 new recruits weekly, according to the Military Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research has also shown that the high-stress, low-sleep conditions of bootcamp further raise the risks of disease. <\/p>\n

In response to the Lackland outbreak, the Pentagon said<\/a> boot camps for all military services are once again requiring the flu vaccination for all recruits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn April, Secretary [Pete] Hegseth called the flu mandate irrational and absurd,\u201d Castro said. \u201cWhat\u2019s absurd about keeping those who serve our nation safe? No president or secretary should be able to play politics and put the health of our troops at risk. Flu spreads quickly and many suffer the consequences. It took the Pentagon over a month to approve Lackland\u2019s request to reinstate the mandate. In the meantime, many more trainees got sick.\u201d <\/p>\n

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