Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Sunday he supports issuing subpoenas to anyone who has information about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and what action former President Donald Trump took — even members of his own party, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

“I would support subpoenas to anybody that can shed light on that, if that’s the leader that’s the leader,” Kinzinger told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “Anybody with parts of that information, with inside knowledge, can probably expect to be talking to the committee.”

“I would expect to see a significant number of subpoenas for a lot of people,” Kinzinger added.

Kinzinger, R-Ill., said that while some members of Congress attempt to brush off the events of Jan. 6 because it’s “politically inconvenient,” the committee is determined to get a full account of the truth.

“If anybody’s scared of this investigation I ask you one question, what are you afraid of? I mean, either you’re afraid of being discovered, of having some culpability in it or, you know what? If you — if you think it wasn’t a big deal, then you should allow this to go forward,” he said.

Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., are the only two Republicans appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the House select committee spearheading the investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection. The panel held its first hearing Tuesday, with emotional witness testimony from four police officers who responded to the attack.

The committee plans to meet on Zoom during the August recess to plan next steps, including issuing “quite a few” subpoenas, Chairman Bennie Thompson, R-Miss., said on Friday. He added that staffers will meet with Justice Department officials next week and members have requested a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“This cannot continue to be a partisan fight,” Kinzinger said during Tuesday’s hearing. “I’m a conservative, but in order to heal from the damage caused that day, we need to call out the facts. It is time to stop the outrage and the conspiracies that fuel the violence and division in this country and — most importantly — we need to reject those that promote it.”

Karl pressed Kinzinger on how the committee intends to enforce subpoenas on fellow members of Congress if they refuse to comply.

“I intend, at least, on the committee, to get to a full accounting of the truth,” Kinzinger responded. “And if somebody thinks that they can stand up and use — maneuvers to try to string this investigation out and hope that people lose interest — at least me, and I know the other members of the committee, are determined that we are going to get to that answer.”

“So it may cost you a lot in legal fees to try to resist, but we’re going to get to that answer,” Kinzinger continued.

Karl also asked Kinzinger whether the committee would subpoena the former president.

“It seems clear that you would want to talk to Donald Trump himself, am I right?” Karl asked.

“We may not even have to talk to Donald Trump to get the information,” Kinzinger responded. “There were tons of people around him.”

The Republican House Leadership held a press conference an hour ahead of the hearing on Tuesday where members tried to blame Pelosi for the attack on the Capitol.

“The American people deserve to know the truth that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as speaker of the House for the tragedy that occurred on January 6th,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said.

Karl asked Kinzinger about it Sunday.

“They protected Donald Trump from blame here and they’re blaming Nancy Pelosi for the fact that Trump supporters invaded the Capitol, and — including her office. Can you explain to me what they’re talking about?” Karl asked.

Kinzinger called Stefanik’s comments “insane.”

“To me it’s mind blowing and it basically shows the desperation to try to derail this,” Kinzinger said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump has not yet said whether he’ll run for president in 2024, but he’s already raising a huge war chest in case he does.

New disclosure reports filed Saturday night show that his affiliated political committees have a total of $102 million in cash on hand going into July, after bringing in more than $80 million in the first six months of 2021.

The massive fundraising sum the committees reported include transfers of donations dated December 2020, though the exact amount transferred from last year is unclear.

According to his team, the latest fundraising total, which spans from Jan. 1 through June 30, comes from 3.2 million contributions.

The money will also come in handy in the midterm elections in 2022, where he could pump tens of millions of dollars into a quest to take back the House and Senate from Democrats.

The latest figures are a show of continued fundraising prowess from Trump, whose massive post-election fundraising success has come amid baseless fraud claims about the 2020 presidential election.

Since the election, Trump and his team have solicited hundreds of millions of dollars for an “Election Defense Fund” and seeking support to fight the 2020 results. But little of that has actually gone to such efforts so far, disclosure filings show.

The latest filings show that much of the amount raised by Trump’s various committees in the first six months of this year have been saved in the bank, while much of the rest has been used for various fundraising and consulting expenses.

Roughly $3.8 million of the spending from Trump’s old presidential campaign committee were labeled as various “recount” expenses, including $2 million in recount legal consulting and $76,000 paid to Giuliani Security & Safety for “recount travel expenses.”

Another $5.8 million was reported as general legal consulting fees.

Trump’s newly formed PAC also reported giving $1 million in contributions to the America First Policy Institution, affiliated with pro-Trump super PAC America First Action.

More than $80,000 has also gone to lodging at Trump’s properties, filings show.

Trump has remained very popular among his base in the first six months of the Biden administration.

Over the past few months, the Republican National Committee as well as multiple Republican candidates vying for key races in the 2022 midterms have fundraised off of Trump, using his name and appealing to his supporters in fundraising emails and messages, hosting fundraisers at Trump properties and even flocking to Mar-a-Lago to feature the former president himself at supporter events.

ABC News’ John Santucci contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — In a new letter to President Joe Biden and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, progressive members of Congress are calling for the CDC to “leverage every authority available to extend the eviction moratorium” after the House failed to take action Friday to extend the eviction ban set to expire Saturday at midnight.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., along with Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., signed on to the letter, seen first by ABC News, urging the administration, which has said its hands are tied by a June Supreme Court ruling, to act.

In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the eviction ban to continue through the end of July but signaled in its ruling that it would block any further extensions unless there was “clear and specific congressional authorization.”

In a statement Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would have supported the CDC extending the ban, but “the Supreme Court has made clear that this option is no longer available,” and called on Congress to take action.

That led to criticism by some progressive members of Congress that the call to action for addressing a known problem came too late, just as Congress was about to recess.

House Democrats launched a last-minute effort to pass legislation that would keep the protections in place but failed to pass it before gaveling out of session for recess Friday evening.

In their letter Saturday, the lawmakers said they will continue to work legislatively to address the expiring moratorium, as well as to get billions in previously approved funding out to help renters and landlords — a process that has gotten off to a slow start.

“In the meantime, we are continuing to work diligently to push for legislative action and ensure that states and localities in our districts are disbursing the billions in critical emergency rental assistance to renters and property owners that Congress passed most recently as part of the American Rescue Plan,” the lawmakers write.

“Extending the eviction moratorium is a matter of life and death for the communities we represent. The eviction moratorium expires tonight at midnight. We implore you to act with the urgency this moment demands,” they add.

Bush, who previously struggled with homelessness, took her protest to Capitol Hill Friday night, sleeping on the steps of the Capitol after Congress failed to act.

“This is personal for me. I lived in a car! I lived out of a car with two babies and my partner. I know what that’s like. And I will not sit by and allow it to happen to other people because it happened to me. I won’t,” Bush told ABC News in an interview Saturday.

“I will show up and I will speak up, not only me — Congresswoman Ayanna Presley was out here with us last night. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was out here with us last night. We are making sure that people know this is not OK and we won’t sit by,” she added.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren took to the Senate Floor Saturday to urge action as well, and later joined Bush outside the Capitol.

“Look, I agree that the eviction moratorium is not a long-term solution. But let me be very clear, it is the right, short-term action is how we keep families safely in their homes while states deliver emergency aid,” Warren said.

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(WASHINGTON) — In a new letter to President Joe Biden and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, progressive members of Congress are calling for the CDC to “leverage every authority available to extend the eviction moratorium” after the House failed to take action Friday to extend the eviction ban set to expire Saturday at midnight.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., along with Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., signed on to the letter, seen first by ABC News, urging the administration, which has said its hands are tied by a June Supreme Court ruling, to act.

In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the eviction ban to continue through the end of July but signaled in its ruling that it would block any further extensions unless there was “clear and specific congressional authorization.”

In a statement Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would have supported the CDC extending the ban, but “the Supreme Court has made clear that this option is no longer available,” and called on Congress to take action.

That led to criticism by some progressive members of Congress that the call to action for addressing a known problem came too late, just as Congress was about to recess.

House Democrats launched a last-minute effort to pass legislation that would keep the protections in place but failed to pass it before gaveling out of session for recess Friday evening.

In their letter Saturday, the lawmakers said they will continue to work legislatively to address the expiring moratorium, as well as to get billions in previously approved funding out to help renters and landlords — a process that has gotten off to a slow start.

“In the meantime, we are continuing to work diligently to push for legislative action and ensure that states and localities in our districts are disbursing the billions in critical emergency rental assistance to renters and property owners that Congress passed most recently as part of the American Rescue Plan,” the lawmakers write.

“Extending the eviction moratorium is a matter of life and death for the communities we represent. The eviction moratorium expires tonight at midnight. We implore you to act with the urgency this moment demands,” they add.

Bush, who previously struggled with homelessness, took her protest to Capitol Hill Friday night, sleeping on the steps of the Capitol after Congress failed to act.

“This is personal for me. I lived in a car! I lived out of a car with two babies and my partner. I know what that’s like. And I will not sit by and allow it to happen to other people because it happened to me. I won’t,” Bush told ABC News in an interview Saturday.

“I will show up and I will speak up, not only me — Congresswoman Ayanna Presley was out here with us last night. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was out here with us last night. We are making sure that people know this is not OK and we won’t sit by,” she added.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren took to the Senate Floor Saturday to urge action as well, and later joined Bush outside the Capitol.

“Look, I agree that the eviction moratorium is not a long-term solution. But let me be very clear, it is the right, short-term action is how we keep families safely in their homes while states deliver emergency aid,” Warren said.

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(WASHINGTON) — House Democrats’ attempt to pass an extension of the eviction moratorium via unanimous consent request failed late Friday ahead of a six-week recess. The moratorium will end Saturday.

The measure was objected to by Republicans, none of whom supported the bid.

“We are proud and pleased that, overwhelmingly, House Democrats have understood the hardship caused by rental evictions and support extending the eviction moratorium to October 18, 2021,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip James E. Clyburn said in a joint statement after the failed bid. “Unfortunately, not a single Republican would support this measure.”

The eleventh-hour attempt to pass an extension came after hours of delay as leaders tried to scramble support for the extension.

In a letter to colleagues earlier Friday, Pelosi said the October date would align with the public health emergency declaration that was issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Previously, Democrats had floated extending the moratorium through the end of the year, but some moderates had complained that the timeframe was too long.

“Congress has the power to direct the CDC to extend the eviction moratorium, as we encourage state and local governments to distribute the money that we allocated,” Pelosi wrote.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted in a statement last month that the July extension would be the final one.

Pelosi also called on states and localities to distribute the Congress-approved rental assistance, of which there is more than $40 billion remaining in the pot.

Progressives lashed out at the White House and party leaders for their failed last-minute scramble to extend the eviction moratorium.

“Everybody knew this was happening. We were sounding the alarm about this issue,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters in a gaggle outside Pelosi’s office. She was joined by Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who has been outspoken about the time she spent homeless in pushing for the extension of the moratorium.

“The court order was not yesterday, the court order was not Monday, the court order was a month ago,” Ocasio Cortez continued. “We had a financial services hearing about it, members were bringing alarms to the administration about it.”

“The fact that the [White House] statement came out just yesterday is unacceptable. It is unacceptable,” she said. “I want to make that very clear, because the excuses that we’ve been hearing about it, I do not accept them.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Thursday, “Given the recent spread of the Delta variant, including among those Americans both most likely to face evictions and lacking vaccinations, President Biden would have strongly supported a decision by the CDC to further extend this eviction moratorium to protect renters at this moment of heightened vulnerability.”

Pelosi told reporters Friday following the defeat that the extension of the eviction moratorium failed in part due to the last-minute notice from the White House about the need for Congress to fix the issue with legislation.

“Really, we only learned about this yesterday. Not really enough time to socialize it within our caucus to build … the consensus necessary,” Pelosi said. “We’ve had beautiful conversations with our members … when it comes, though, to the technicalities of legislation, we just need more time.”

Hoyer added, “There were obviously some concerns about landlords getting payments, as well as the renters.”

Hoyer said an “overwhelming number” of Democrats wanted to pass the extension, but some had concerns about getting payments to landlords who have not been able to enforce rent collections.

“This is really so unfair” to the landlords, housing providers, as well as renters, Pelosi added.

Pelosi warned that further legislative action is possible in August.

ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — A commitment to American labor helped fuel President Joe Biden’s bid for the White House as he promised to be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen.” It was an embrace that many of the major federations, associations, teamsters and brotherhoods in the nation requited by endorsing his candidacy.

But the support for Biden’s leadership that united more than 50 union groups during the campaign threatened to splinter publicly this week, over mixed reception of his plan to require federal workers get the COVID-19 vaccine or face regular testing and other restrictions.

Even before Biden’s announcement, segments of the federal workforce rumbled with dissension. Some groups representing large numbers of workers raised preemptive objections.

“It is not the role of the federal government to mandate vaccinations for the employees we represent,” the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) said in a statement the day before Biden made his announcement, adding that they encourage members to “voluntarily get vaccinated.”

Following the announcement, an APWU spokesperson underscored that while their workers are government employees, they are an independent agency — and thus don’t have to adhere to Biden’s new policy.

A White House spokesperson said that employees of independent agencies are not required to be vaccinated, but are strongly encouraged to do so.

“Make no mistake, we support being vaccinated as the most effective path and means to eliminate the COVID-19 virus, but not at the cost of our Constitutional rights that we protect and hold as self-evident,” Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) said. ​​

Biden’s new policy is not a mandate but a choice: Either get vaccinated, or face potentially inconvenient restrictions. Federal government employees and contractors onsite will be asked to “attest to their vaccination status” by showing proof. Those who decline to be fully vaccinated, or decline to show proof that they are, must wear a mask at work, social distance and get tested for the virus once or twice a week; they may also face restrictions on official travel.

It all comes as Biden contends with flagging vaccination rates and the delta variant’s exponential spread — both of which threaten hard-fought wins in the fight against COVID.

After the new vaccine policy had been spelled out Thursday, major union groups reacted with a largely tepid response, with many members voicing concerns about personal freedoms, privacy and the policy’s practice.

“We have a lot of questions about how this policy will be implemented and how employee rights and privacy will be protected,” National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) National President Tony Reardon said in a statement to ABC News. “This approach appears to establish a process for employees to voluntarily disclose their vaccination status.”

NTEU represents 150,000 federal employees across 34 departments and agencies. For those employees who wish to keep their vaccination status confidential or choose to remain unvaccinated, Reardon said, “a testing protocol will be established.”

The largest union representing federal employees, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said they expected any new policies to be “properly negotiated with our bargaining units prior to implementation.”

“We are seeking details on many aspects of this plan,” NTEU’s Reardon said. “We will work to ensure employees are treated fairly and this protocol does not create an undue burden on them.”

NTEU endorsed Biden’s candidacy during the 2020 election, as did AFGE and APWU.

So did National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in U.S. history. They represent more than 170,000 members nationwide, including some VA nurses, and while saying vaccination is “critically important,” they said they place the greatest emphasis on the importance of “respecting the need for medical and religious accommodations.”

“The Biden administration is trying to thread that needle,” NNU President Deborah Burger told ABC News. “You have to honor those accommodations, and move forward.”

At least one major federation of unions is going ever further than Biden in its stance on vaccines: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Tuesday that he would support a full vaccine mandate.

“It’s important, if you are coming back into the workplace, you have to know what’s around you. If you come back in and you are not vaccinated, everybody in that workplace is jeopardized,” Trumka told C-SPAN. “What we need to do now is to get more people vaccinated, and I think the mandate is a very acceptable way to do that.”

The AFL-CIO endorsed Biden during his candidacy, as did one of its largest member unions, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — but this week, the two diverged on the matter of mandates: AFT President Randi Weingarten said that vaccine protocol should be arbitrated in the workplace itself.

“In order for everyone to feel safe and welcome in their workplaces, vaccinations must be negotiated between employers and workers, not coerced,” Weingarten said in a statement ahead of Biden’s announcement, cautioning that a get-the-shot-or-get-fired protocol would risk losing health care staff at a time when they’re most needed, and when “staffing levels are already low from the trauma of the past year.”

On Thursday, Biden pleaded for Americans to appreciate how urgent the situation has become.

“It’s literally about life and death,” Biden said in announcing the policy. “That’s what it’s about. You know and I know, people talk about freedom. But I learned growing up, from school and my parents: With freedom comes responsibility.”

ABC News’ Jordyn Phelps, Sarah Kolinovsky and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Handwritten notes from former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, released Friday by the House Oversight Committee, appear to show that former President Trump tried to pressure the Department of Justice to declare there was significant fraud tainting the 2020 presidential election.

The documents were obtained by the committee as part of its investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The notes are from a December 27, 2020, phone call between Trump and then-Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen.

According to Donoghue’s notes, Rosen told Trump that the Justice Department had no power to reverse the outcome of the election.

“Understand that the DOJ can’t + won’t snap its fingers + change the outcome of the election, doesn’t work that way,” said Rosen, according to the notes.

“Don’t expect you to do that, just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen,” Trump replied, per the notes.

At another point in the call, the notes showed Rosen and Donoghue trying to convince Trump that his allegations of voter fraud were false.

“Sir we have done dozens of investig., hundreds of interviews, major allegations are not supported by evid. developed,” Donoghue told Trump, per the notes. “We are doing our job. Much of the info you’re getting is false.”

Trump however would not be swayed.

“‘We have an obligation to tell people that this was an illegal, corrupt election,” he said, according to the notes.

“These handwritten notes show that President Trump directly instructed our nation’s top law enforcement agency to take steps to overturn a free and fair election in the final days of his presidency,” House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney said in a statement. “The Committee has begun scheduling interviews with key witnesses to investigate the full extent of the former President’s corruption, and I will exercise every tool at my disposal to ensure all witness testimony is secured without delay.”

The release of the notes comes days after the Justice Department determined that six former Trump Justice Department officials, including Rosen and Donoghue, can participate in Congress’ investigation.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has determined the Treasury Department must hand over former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The opinion, posted Friday, says that while the committee “cannot compel the Executive Branch to disclose [tax information] without satisfying the constitutional requirement that the information could serve a legitimate legislative purpose,” the Ways and Means Committee in this instance ‘”invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former President’s tax information.”

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal first requested six years’ worth of Trump’s tax returns in April of 2019, in addition to tax returns for eight of Trump’s businesses, under a 97-year-old law that requires the Treasury secretary to “furnish” the returns of any taxpayer to the chairman of the tax-writing panel by request.

In explaining the “legislative purpose” of the request, which Neal would need to prove under law in order to secure the returns, Neal said the committee had been “considering legislative proposals and conducting oversight related to our Federal tax laws, including … the extent to which the IRS audits and enforces the Federal tax laws against a President.”

As both a candidate and during his presidency, Trump vigorously resisted making his tax returns public, and his Justice Department backed him in his legal fight against the Ways and Means Committee, determining Neal’s reasoning didn’t amount to a legitimate legislative purpose.

After President Joe Biden took office and the Justice Department assumed new leadership, Rep. Neal renewed his request, resulting in Friday’s legal opinion reversing the Trump DOJ’s stance.

It’s not immediately clear when the Treasury Department would actually hand over Trump’s tax returns. A recent filing in the case states that Trump would need to be given 72 hours’ notice before his returns are transmitted to the Hill, giving him an opportunity to potentially appeal the decision.

If the committee is provided Trump’s tax returns, Neal would be able to designate lawmakers and committee staff to review them in a private setting — but it would still be a felony to release them publicly. However, the panel could potentially vote to enter the returns into the public record, according to the committee’s rules.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to news of the Justice Department’s decision in a statement Friday, applauding the administration for delivering “a victory for the rule of law.”

“Access to former President Trump’s tax returns is a matter of national security,” Pelosi said. “The American people deserve to know the facts of his troubling conflicts of interest and undermining of our security and democracy as president.”

In February, eight years of Trump’s tax returns were handed over to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s office following a years-long court battle that escalated all the way to the Supreme Court.

While the returns could be used as evidence in Vance’s ongoing criminal investigation of Trump and his company, their public release is restricted by grand jury secrecy rules.

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(WASHINGTON) — Legislation introduced Thursday by a bipartisan group of women senators would honor Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor by requiring statues of them in the U.S. Capitol or on Capitol grounds.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and has 17 co-sponsors. Members of the Democratic Women Caucus and Bipartisan Women’s Caucus also introduced a similar bill in the House on Thursday.

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor were trailblazers long before reaching the Supreme Court, opening doors for women at a time when so many insisted on keeping them shut,” Klobuchar said. “The Capitol is our most recognizable symbol of Democracy, a place where people from across our country have their voices represented and heard. It is only fitting that we honor their remarkable lives and service to our country by establishing statues in the Capitol.”

O’Connor and Ginsburg were the first and second women, respectively, to serve on the Supreme Court. O’Connor, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan in 1981, served until she retired in January 2006. Ginsburg was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 and served until her death last year after suffering from metastatic pancreatic cancer. They served on the court together for 12 years.

“Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg will always be known as dedicated public servants, fierce champions for equality, and accomplished Americans who broke countless barriers in the field of law,” Collins said. “Statues in the nation’s capital honoring the first two women to serve on the highest court in the land will serve as fitting tributes to their invaluable contributions to our country.”

The Capitol currently has 252 sculptures of men and 14 of women. The most recent statue of a woman is of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, erected in 2013.

If passed, the legislation would require that the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library consider selecting an artist from an underrepresented background to create the statues.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is stepping up efforts to get shots in people’s arms, including calling on states, territories and local governments to do more to incentivize vaccination by offering $100 to those who get vaccinated and reimbursing small- and medium-sized businesses for offering their employees paid leave to get their family members vaccinated.

He also announced that every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to “attest to their vaccination status,” and will require anyone not fully vaccinated to wear a mask at work regardless of where they live, social distance and get tested once or twice a week. Employees can also face restrictions on official travel.

Biden was also directing the Department of Defense to look into how and when they will add COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required vaccinations for members of the military, according to a fact sheet that was released to reporters.

Ahead of the president’s announcement, some groups representing large numbers of federal workers — including law enforcement and postal workers — raised some early objections.

“As an association representing those men and women charged with protecting the Constitutional rights of all Americans, including the right to privacy and choice, we are concerned by any move that would mandate the COVID-19 vaccine among federal employees,” Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said in a statement.

The statement also asked that the administration work collaboratively with the association and other federal employee groups to incentivize workers to be vaccinated.

Chad Hooper, the executive director of the Professional Managers Association — formed in 1981 by IRS managers — implored all of its members, their staff and eligible Americans to get vaccinated as soon as possible, but highlighted that any mandate imposed on the entire workforce would be the first of its kind.

“Consistent with vaccines for other illnesses, such as measles or influenza, PMA believes that agency leadership should have the discretion to determine whether any, some, or all of their staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19,” Hooper said in a statement.

“At this time, no COVID-19 vaccine has received full approval from the FDA, and this may be contributing to vaccine hesitancy across our country. We must ask the administration to craft any such mandate with care and consideration of our members’ individual contraindications as well as their closely held personal and religious beliefs,” the statement continued.

Pfizer, Moderna and the Johnson and Johnson vaccines were granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), but the FDA is facing pressure to issue full authorization of the vaccines, which could open the door to mandates in schools, and the military.

“The FDA recognizes that vaccines are key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and is working as quickly as possible to review applications for full approval,” FDA spokesperson Alison Hunt said in a statement.

ABC News’ Jordyn Phelps and Lauren King contributed to this report.

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