H.R. 5860 · 117th Congress

Keeping Our COVID–19 Heroes Employed Act

Introduced on Nov 4, 2021 by Tim Burchett (R-TN-2). 16 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Nov 5, 2021): Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Nov 4, 2021
Cosponsors
16
0 from the other party
Policy area
Health
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To exempt essential workers from Federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Subjects

  • Cardiovascular and respiratory health
  • Emergency medical services and trauma care
  • Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
  • Immunology and vaccination
  • Infectious and parasitic diseases
  • Public contracts and procurement
  • Worker safety and health

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Nov 4, 2021). Public domain.

Keeping Our COVID-19 Heroes Employed Act

This bill exempts essential workers from COVID-19 vaccination requirements imposed by the federal government and contractors, public entities that received federal COVID-19 relief funds, and private entities that received any federal funds.

An essential worker is an individual who was deemed to be essential or exempted from response measures during the COVID-19 pandemic by a state, tribe, or territory.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Tim BurchettR-TN-2Sponsor

Republicans · 16

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Nov 3, 2021Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H6131)
  2. Nov 4, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Nov 4, 2021Introduced in House
  4. Nov 4, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Nov 4, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  6. Nov 5, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Delta Air Lines, Inc.1 report
    $1.3M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: DELTA AIR LINES, INC.$8.9M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  2. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.1 report
    $210K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC.$282.9M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%

Reports filed in 2023.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.