On Wednesday, U.S. senators voted to nullify the Biden administration's COVID vaccine mandate for large organizations in the private sector. At least two Democrats expressed support for the vote, with centrist Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana throwing their weight behind it alongside all 50 Republicans. The resolution was passed with a vote of 52 to 48.
According to The Hill, the 1996-enacted Congressional Review Act (CRA) establishes a fast-track process in the Senate that lets the minority party vote on a resolution to approve a federal rule. The CRA however, is only applicable to the Senate and not the House of Representatives.
The passage of the resolution will spark a battle in the House, where Republicans intend to circulate a discharge petition to push Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California to schedule a vote on the resolution. Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, who is the lead Senate Republican proposal sponsor said he hoped to get a few more Democratic leaders to side with the Republicans.
"The basis of my decision is we don't like mandates, and quite frankly, I heard a lot from my business community that they didn't like - workability was bad," Sen. Braun remarked. He said he was confident that House Republicans will gather enough signatures for the discharge petition to spark a floor vote in the chamber. He added that about 30 Democrats from swing districts who may be in favor of the discharge petition.
According to WND, President Joe Biden is expected to veto the resolution if both the Senate and the House pass it. Biden will, however, face a major political blow if bipartisan majorities in both chambers vote to overturn the vaccine mandate.
Sen. Braun took to Twitter to celebrate Wednesday night, writing, "This bipartisan vote is a crystal clear message to the @WhiteHouse: Back off, and stop this crazy federal overreach immediately."
Some Senate Republicans such as Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas told NBC News that while COVID vaccines are important, the mandate is "unconstitutional." He argued, "The mandate is going to backfire. The people that have thus far have not gotten, have not received the vaccine are not going to do it until this White House acknowledges natural immunity."
Federal courts have blocked the Biden administration's COVID vaccine mandates, with some judges ruling that the Democratic president may have abused his authority. Meanwhile, Sen. James Lankford, a Republican representing Oklahoma, argued, "The president of the United States cannot reach into every company and pick and choose who he wants hired and fired."
A very small percent of employed Americans actually support firing employees who refuse to get the COVID vaccine, as per an Axios-Ipsos poll released in November. A Wall Street Journal poll showed, however, that voters are split with 50% saying they are for the COVID vaccine mandate for the private sector, while 47% opposed it.
Sen. Manchin argued that the government "should incentivize, not penalize, private employers whose responsibility it is to protect their employees" from COVID, CNN reported.
