San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Court extends block on vaccine mandate
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court has kept its block in place against a federal mandate that all large employers require their workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing starting in January, declaring that the rule “grossly exceeds” the authority of the occupational safety agency that issued it.
In a 22-page ruling issued Friday, a three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans held that a group of challengers to the mandate issued by the Biden administration was likely to succeed in its claim that it was an unlawful overreach and barred the government from moving forward with it.
“From economic uncertainty to workplace strife, the mere specter of the mandate has contributed to untold economic upheaval in recent months,” wrote Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt.
He was joined by Judges Edith H. Jones and Kyle
Duncan. All three are Republican appointees.
In a filing asking the 5th Circuit to withdraw its stay earlier this week, the Department of Justice argued that requiring large employers to force their workers to get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing was well within the authority granted to by Congress to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The ruling by the panel of the 5th Circuit is unlikely to be the final word. Some challenges to the mandate are in other circuits, and the cases will be consolidated before a randomly chosen one of those jurisdictions. The Supreme Court is expected to eventually decide the matter.
Dena Iverson, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said the Biden administration will defend the mandate through that process.
“Today’s decision is just the beginning of the process for review of this important OSHA standard,” she said in a statement. “The department will continue to vigorously defend the standard and looks forward to obtaining a definitive resolution following consolidation of all of the pending cases for further review.”
President Joe Biden announced in September that his administration would issue such a mandate as one of several steps to try to increase immunization rates and end the pandemic, which so far has killed about 750,000 Americans. Other mandates applied to federal employees and federal contractors.
In early November, OSHA, which is part of the
Labor Department, issued the standard for companies with at least 100 employees. It would force them to require unvaccinated employees to wear masks indoors starting Dec. 5. Employees who remain unvaccinated by Jan. 4 would have to undergo weekly testing at work.
The proposed rule makes an exception for employees who do not come into close contact with other people at their jobs, such as those who work at home or exclusively outdoors.