President Joe Biden spoke in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on November 3, 2021.
The Senate voted Wednesday to block the vaccine mandate on private employers, in the latest blow to the push by President Joe Biden to give the federal government more power to boost vaccinations.
The measure will be sent to the House. The Biden administration has threatened a veto if it reaches the president's desk, and it faces a tougher path to passage in the House.
The measure to overturn the mandate will have little practical effect because it has a slim chance of becoming law. A federal court halted the administration's requirements for private businesses with 100 or more employees.
The vote underscores resistance to the Biden policy among Democrats who are from red states. The White House is trying to increase U.S. vaccinations and booster shots as the highly-minted omicron variant starts to gain a foothold around the country.
The measure was approved by the Senate. Every Republican supported it, as did Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn rules made by federal agencies if there is a simple majority.
The Republicans who introduced the plan to overturn the mandate argued that it would hurt small businesses.
Braun said that the government is overreach.
Schumer denounced the plan. He said that blocking the mandate would damage the U.S. efforts to contain the Pandemic.
The worst thing we can do is to keep our hands behind our backs and let the new ones grow and spread. He said that anti-vaccines would do that.
The majority of Democrats in the House will oppose the measure. Four House Democrats would need to defect for it to get through both chambers.
The White House Office of Management and Budget said on Tuesday that it will encourage Biden to veto the Senate legislation.
The OMB said in a statement that it makes no sense for Congress to reverse this much-needed protection of our workforce at a time when a new variant of COVID is on the rise.
The Biden administration was forced to stop implementing its vaccine and testing requirements last month by the 5th Circuit. The Biden policy was said to be flawed and raised serious constitutional concerns by Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt.
Businesses with 100 or more employees were required to submit a negative Covid test weekly or make sure their staff is vaccine-free by January 4. Workers were supposed to start wearing facemasks on December 5.
More than two dozen lawsuits have been filed in federal courts across the country. Republican attorneys general, private businesses and national industry groups want the requirements overturned. The unions want the policy to cover smaller businesses and protect more employees.
The Justice Department asked a multidistrict litigation panel to consolidate the litigation in a single court. The Sixth Circuit in Ohio has a Republican-appointed majority and is where the consolidated case was transferred.
The Biden administration asked the Sixth Circuit to restore the vaccine and testing requirements because they would cost lives and increase hospitalizations. The motion was filed by the Justice Department just days before the world was aware of the omicron variant.
Delaying the Standard would likely cost many lives per day, in addition to large numbers of hospitalizations, other serious health effects, and tremendous expenses. The Justice Department argued in its motion that there were harms to the highest order.
Legal experts say that the case will end up before the Supreme Court.
The White House asked businesses to move forward with the requirements as the litigation plays out in court to help combat a Covid winter surge.
The business community was asked to implement the requirements by dozens of groups representing health care professionals. The American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the National League for Nursing were part of the coalition.
The requirements were issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. If the Labor secretary finds that a new safety standard is necessary, OSHA can shorten the normal rulemaking process.
The White House has pointed out that Covid poses a danger due to the high death toll from the Pandemic and the high rates of infections in the U.S.
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