United States federal appeals court on Saturday froze a vaccine mandate by President Joe Biden’s administration that aim to compel workers at businesses with more than 100 staff to get COVID-19 shots or be tested weekly.
Gatekeepers News reports that the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that “there are grave statutory and constitutional issues” with the mandate.
“The mandate is hereby stayed pending further action by this court,” it said.
The two-page order directs the Biden administration to respond to the request for a permanent injunction against the rule by 5 p.m. Monday.
The development follows several Republican-led states that filed legal challenges against the new rule, which is set to take effect on January 4.
Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, in a statement, said the Labor Department was “confident in its legal authority” to issue the rule, which will be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
“The Occupational Safety and Health Act explicitly gives OSHA the authority to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them,” she said. “We are fully prepared to defend this standard in court.”
Officials said the action on private-sector vaccinations was taken under OSHA’s emergency authority over workplace safety. The rule applies to 84.2 million workers at 1.9 million private-sector employers, according to OSHA.
The rule, which was unveiled on Thursday, was immediately met with promises of legal action from Republican governors and others who argued it overstepped the Democratic administration’s legal authority.
Saturday’s court order came in response to a joint petition from several businesses, advocacy groups, and the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah.
It was gathered that the rule is also facing separate legal challenges before other courts.
Gatekeepers News reports that the US has recorded nearly 46.5 million COVID-19 infections and more than 754,000 deaths.
