President Joe Biden on Thursday expressed his dismay after the U.S. Supreme Court shot down his administration's vaccine-or-test mandate for private businesses with at least 100 employees. The mandate was announced in September and was supposed to be carried out by an emergency order by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) this week.
"I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law," President Biden lamented, as reported by the Daily Wire. "This emergency standard allowed employers to require vaccinations or to permit workers to refuse to be vaccinated, so long as they were tested once a week and wore a mask at work: a very modest burden."
"As a result of the Court's decision, it is now up to States and individual employers to determine whether to make their workplaces as safe as possible for employees, and whether their businesses will be safe for consumers during this pandemic by requiring employees to take the simple and effective step of getting vaccinated," President Biden urged. The 79 year old said that while the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he cannot use his authority to implement a vaccine mandate, he pledged to "[use his] voice as President to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans' health and economy."
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision came as a win for freedom and for most of the Biden administration's critics, including the states, organizations, and private entities that have filed a lawsuit against it over the COVID vaccine mandate. The Daily Wire is one of those organizations that also filed a lawsuit in November, appealing to the Supreme Court to block the order after the Sixth Circuit lifted a stay put in place by the Fifth Circuit.
Republican Representative Dan Newhouse of Washington released a statement yesterday applauding the Supreme Court's ruling on the Biden administration's unconstitutional vaccine mandate, calling it a "huge win for businesses" across America.
The Washington representative however, warned that the "fight is far from over," and that while he continues to "encourage anyone who is able to do so to get vaccinated, it simply is not constitutional - or effective - to impose expansive 'one-size-fits-all' mandates."
"Yesterday's decision reiterates the need for President Biden to stop dictating and start leading with smart, science-based alternatives to overreaching mandates," Rep. Newhouse declared.
According to Forbes, the Biden administration will most likely try to establish a new vaccine requirement for private employers that's "more narrowly tailored to stand up in court." The Biden administration may also look into the concerns raised by the justices with regards to the policy enacted as an "emergency" rule and may propose a new regular rule that may take longer to implement.
The Biden administration's vaccine mandate for private companies affects up to 80 million U.S. workers, who would be subjected to getting vaccinated against COVID or be required to be tested every week.
