The Supreme Court has announced [LINK HERE and LINK HERE] it will hold a special hearing next month to consider challenges to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers and a separate coronavirus vaccine mandate for health-care workers.
Both vaccine mandates have been partially blocked from going into effect by lower courts after challenges from states, business and religious coalitions.
Justices Alito and Kavanaugh both received requests, both affirmed acceptance, and then both cases were consolidated by THE COURT. The court will hear oral arguments for one hour on Friday January 7, 2022, just before the court begins regularly scheduled oral arguments. [SCOTUS Order Link]
Additionally, yesterday a Florida judge blocked the federal contractor mandate writing in part:
“The extent of any absenteeism attributable to COVID-19 among contractors and subcontractors is unexplained. The frequency and duration of any procurement delay attributable to COVID-19 is unexplained. The extent of any cost increases attributable to COVID-19 is unexplained.”
“In other words, the extent of any procurement problem, past or future, attributable to COVID-19 is undemonstrated and is merely a hastily manufactured but unproven hypothesis about recent history and a contrived speculation about the future. Obviously, no massive extension and expansion of presidential power is necessary to cure a non-existent problem and certainly neither ‘good cause’ nor ‘urgent and compelling circumstances’ exists to justify summary disregard of the requirements of administrative law and rulemaking.”
~ U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday 12/22/21
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday granted a motion filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for a preliminary injunction against the vaccine requirement for federal contractors in Florida.