Federal Appeals Court Denies Biden Admin Request to Lift Stay on Vaccine Mandate
After a Federal Appeals Court ordered a stay on the enforcement of the COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate last week, the Biden Administration vowed to fight on and amassed a team of administration attorneys to convince the Appeals Court to lift that stay. That stay, citing statutory and Constitutional concerns, prevented the US Federal Government from enforcing the mandate.
Last night, the AP reported that the Biden Administration’s effort has failed:
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay last Saturday of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.
Lawyers for the Justice and Labor departments filed a response Monday in which they said stopping the mandate from taking effect will only prolong the COVID-19 pandemic and would “cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day.”
But the appeals court rejected that argument Friday. Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt wrote that the stay “is firmly in the public interest.”
While Biden and those in his administration believe that their narrower victory than Trump in 2016, somehow has granted them a mandate for their policy agenda, many states and courts have begun to clip their wings as a reminder of the crazy and novel concept that we have a Constitutional Government. Despite this latest victory for the several states fighting against the mandate, this isn’t the end of the line for the federal government’s continued efforts to enforce the vaccine mandate.
Continuing from the AP:
At least 27 states have filed legal challenges in at least six federal appeals courts after OSHA released its rules on Nov. 4. The federal government said in its court filings Monday that the cases should be consolidated and that one of the circuit courts where a legal challenge has been filed should be chosen at random on Nov. 16 to hear it.
Should the states mount a united defense against the mandates, it should show a significant chance for state-by-state enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandates (not that we want those), as the US Constitution delegates any non-enumerated federal powers to the states and the people. Last I checked, the Constitution is pretty quiet about that Federal Power of requiring people to be vaccinated against a pandemic. This should be open shut in favor of the states.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has ruled against the Joe Biden OSHA vaccine mandate calling it “staggeringly overbroad.”
[The 22-page ruling and opinion is AVAILABLE HERE]
The three judge panel upheld its previous decision to put a stay on the order by Joe Biden against companies with 100 workers or more. The Biden administration had instructed the Department of Labor to require COVID-19 vaccines. The Biden administration’s effort to use an Emergency Temporary Standard OHSA rule was rejected by the court citing numerous flaws in their review and ruling:
(Continue reading via pdf)
“The mandate is a one-size-fits-all sledgehammer that makes hardly any attempt to account for differences in workplaces (and workers),” Circuit Court Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote for the panel.
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