Appeals court OKs Biden federal employee vaccine mandate

A recent graduate of a nursing school is giving a vaccine booster shot to a person in Federal Way, Washington.

Ted S. Warren/AP

A federal appeals court upheld the requirement that all federal employees be vaccine free.

A panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court and ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the mandate. The ruling at the New Orleans-based appellate court was a rare win for the administration and said that the federal judge didn't have jurisdiction in the case and that those challenging the requirement could have pursued administrative remedies under Civil Service law.

An executive order was issued by Biden in September ordering vaccinations for all executive branch agency employees. In January, Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Donald Trump, issued a nationwide injunction against the requirement.

When the case was argued at the 5th Circuit last month, administration lawyers noted that district judges in a dozen countries had rejected the vaccine challenge before Brown ruled.

Case reveals ideological divides in the courts

The president has the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation to require that employees be vaccine free, according to the administration.

Lawyers for those challenging the mandate pointed to a recent Supreme Court opinion that private employers can't be forced to have employee vaccinations.

Republicans nominated 12 of 17 active judges at the 5th Circuit.

President Bill Clinton nominated Carl Stewart and James Dennis to the court. The Civil Service Reform Act was cited by the administration as the reason for Judge Barksdale's dissent.

The case was marked by ideological differences at the appeals court.

In February, a different panel refused to block the ruling. The vote was 2-1. There were no reasons given by the majority for Judge Jerry Smith and Don Willett.

The judge who was nominated to be a judge by Barack Obama argued that a single district judge with no public health expertise should not be able to block the president from ordering the same type of judge.