Pelosi: 'So silly' to oppose federal funding bill over Biden vaccine mandate

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that it's "so silly" to oppose a short-term federal appropriations bill over President Biden's vaccine mandate.

Some Republican senators have said they would oppose the continuing resolution, to keep the federal government fully operational, if it includes implementation of Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses. 

"How do they explain to the public that they're shutting down government because they don't want people to get vaccinated?" Pelosi said at a Capitol Hill news conference. "Why don't you go ask them? This is so silly."

Pelosi said the Democratic-led House would vote today on a continuing resolution, the Further Extending Government Funding Act, to keep the government funded through February.

GOP Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said that the vaccine mandate is forcing many employees to choose between a "jab" or a job and hurting the economy.

"An estimated 28% of US workers (approx. 44.9 million Americans) will be at risk of losing their jobs under Biden’s vaccine mandates," he wrote on Twitter. "Some of the worst hit industries will be manufacturing, retail trade, and wholesale trade."