The Biden administration is on the verge of facing a legal battle over the president’s vaccine mandate for large companies. Besides, this pending legal battle has a lot of ramifications for the president and the Democrat Party in general.
The battle will test the limits of the president’s authority to implement COVID-19 rules for the whole country. It could also create problems for the Democrat Party, as they’ve started evaluating the politics in play around vaccine mandates.
Federal Appeal Court Halted Biden’s Vaccine Mandate
On Saturday, a Federal Appeals Court ruled to stop the president’s vaccine mandate for large businesses. By so doing, the court handed a temporary, yet sweet, victory to the political right resisting the insane mandate.
The three-judge panel ruled petitioners have excellent reasons to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the president’s vaccine mandate.
With the court’s ruling, there will be no vaccine mandate until further notice. Moreover, following the court ruling, Governor of Texas Greg Abbott tweeted gleefully, while stating they would have their day in court to fight Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate.
BREAKING: The Federal Court of Appeals just issued a temporary halt to Biden’s vaccine mandate.
Emergency hearings will take place soon.
We will have our day in court to strike down Biden’s unconstitutional abuse of authority. pic.twitter.com/8utmU05vw3
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 6, 2021
The lawsuit was brought forward on behalf of some Texas ventilation workers and a Louisiana business owner called Brandon Trosclair, who owns a chain of 15 grocery stores. The petitioners were represented by lawyers from Pelican Institute for Public Policy and Liberty Justice Center.
Mr. Trosclair says he employs close to 500 people in Louisiana. He mentioned his business is struggling with worker shortages; the vaccine mandate would only worsen the situation.
According to Trosclair, his employees consistently served their communities by showing up to work every day in the face of COVID and hurricanes. Trosclair added he wouldn’t accept the government forcing him to insert himself into their personal health decisions.
Debates about the Court Ruling
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released details of vaccine requirements for large companies last week. Under the new guidelines, employers with over 100 workers must require their workers to get the vaccine or take the COVID test every week.
With the court ruling against the OSHA guidelines, some experts believe OSHA’s guideline is 100% legal. David Michaels, a public health professor who led OSHA during the Obama administration, said the court was wrong in its ruling from the beginning.
The 5th Circuit treated mere “cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate” as enough to suspend it. But that’s never been the legal standard. Not even close. https://t.co/bRC6VZLWNd
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) November 8, 2021
Michaels said the OSHA rule is not a vaccine mandate; instead, it is a straightforward OSHA requirement telling these employers to mitigate a workplace hazard.
Some other legal experts argued OSHA is moving beyond its scope by requiring testing and vaccinations at the workplace. The Liberty Justice Center said OSHA’s purpose is to protect against workplace hazards. The organization said OSHA is wading beyond its purview.
Although the courts have temporarily suspended OSHA’s directive, there is still more to come. The Biden administration will be sure to fight to guarantee the vaccine mandates remain in place.
