The Biden administration's vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies were blocked by the Supreme Court on Thursday, but they were allowed to stand for medical facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid payments.
Three days after the emergency measure started to take effect, the rulings came.
Businesses with 100 or more employees were required to submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. Unvaccinated workers were required to wear masks at work.
Congress gave OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, but it has not given the agency the power to regulate public health more broadly.
The court said that the requirement that 84 million Americans bevaccinated is a case of the latter category.
A demonstrator holds a sign outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., that says "freedoms and mandates don't mix" during the arguments on two federal coronaviruses vaccine mandate measures.
The court agreed with the government that the Secretary's rule falls within the authority that Congress has given him.
CNBC asked the White House spokesman if he would comment on the rulings.
The mandates were issued by OSHA under its emergency power. If the Labor secretary determines that a new workplace safety standard is necessary to protect workers from a grave danger, OSHA can shorten the normal rulemaking process.
The rules were necessary to address the grave danger posed by the Covid epidemic, the administration argued before the high court. Liberal justices were sympathetic to the government and highlighted the devastating death toll from the Pandemic and the unprecedented wave of infections.
The conservative majority of the court was skeptical about the federal government's move.
The Chief Justice believes that the 1970 law governing OSHA gives the agencies the freedom to make their own rules.
The vaccine-or-test rules faced lawsuits from 27 states, with Republican attorneys general or governors, private businesses, religious groups and national industry groups.
The mandates were the most expansive use of power by the federal government to protect workers from Covid.
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