Supreme Court Blocks Biden’s Virus Mandate for Large Employers

The White House was dealt a blow when the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from implementing a vaccine mandate for large employers.

The court allowed a small mandate requiring health care workers to be vaccine free.

The employer mandate case was 6 to 3 with liberal justices in dissent. The vote in the health care case was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justices Kavanak and Elena Kagan joining the liberals.

The employer mandate would have required workers to be tested weekly for the coronaviruses, but employers were not required to pay for the testing. There were exceptions for workers with religious objections and those who don't come into close contact with other people at their jobs, like those who work from home or exclusively outdoors.

The mandate concerning record-keeping and masks was supposed to take effect on Monday. The administration said it wouldn't enforce the testing requirement until February 9.

More than 84 million workers were affected by the mandate issued by the Labor Department. The administration estimated that it would cause 22 million people to bevaccinated.

The court's conservative majority seemed to doubt that the administration had the authority to impose the requirements.

Workers at hospitals and other health care facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs are subject to the second mandate. It would affect 17 million workers and save hundreds or even thousands of lives each month, according to the administration.

State vaccine mandates have been upheld by the Supreme Court. The new cases are about whether Congress has given the executive branch the authority to institute requirements.

The mandate for large employers appeared to be lawful according to a divided three-judge panel.

The record shows that Covid-19 has continued to spread and block the safe return of American workers to their jobs. OSHA must be able to respond to dangers as they evolve.

The judge wrote that the administration most likely lacks congressional authority to impose the vaccine requirement.

She wrote that the mandate was aimed at protecting the unvaccinated from their own choices. Unvaccinated people can choose to protect themselves at any time.