A federal appeals court on Saturday blocked the Biden administration’s private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandate, asserting there may be constitutional issues with the requirement.
“Because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate, the mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court,” a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said in the brief order.
The halt of the mandate, which was unveiled this week, is temporary as the case moves forward.
The case was brought by multiple businesses, including the American Family Association; multiple individuals; and several states, including Texas, Utah, and Mississippi.
Petitioners said the mandate, promulgated as an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), should be struck down because it exceeds OSHA’s authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
They said that the authority is limited to workplace-related hazards while the risk from COVID-19 is “a society-wide danger.” They also said the mandate doesn’t make sense because determining whether COVID-19 is a workplace hazard depends on employees’ age and health, not how many co-workers they have.
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“In an attempt to impose a nationwide vaccination mandate without approval from Congress, the executive branch has couched its COVID-19 vaccine mandate as an emergency workplace rule affecting nearly 100 million Americans. But the ETS is neither a workplace rule nor responsive to an emergency,” lawyers for the petitioners wrote in an emergency motion asking the court to impose a stay.
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In a ruling on Saturday, a three judge panel at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay sought by Texas, Utah, Mississippi and South Carolina, as well as businesses who claimed they would be negatively impacted.
"Because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate, the Mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court," the judges wrote, ordering lawyers for the states and the federal government to submit further briefing by next week.
The rule was not going into effect until January.
Utah political leaders have argued the government using OSHA rules to mandate vaccinations is unconstitutional. Governor Spencer Cox told FOX 13 earlier this week Utah would sue over it.
"I am grateful our courts recognize the egregious overreach from the Biden administration into the personal health decisions of citizens and that businesses won’t be forced to enforce this unconstitutional rule," House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, said to FOX 13 in a text message.
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