The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden administration’s rule requiring employees at large U.S. businesses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or be subject to frequent testing, but it allowed the administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers receiving funds from the federal government to go ahead.
The justices at the nation’s highest court said the mandate exceeded the Biden administration’s authority.
Separately they ruled that a more limited vaccine mandate could stand for staff at government-funded healthcare facilities.
The high court ruled 6-3 to block the vaccine-or-test mandate for private employers, with its conservative majority basing their ruling on the argument that the White House has overstepped its authority by imposing the rule devised by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on businesses with 100 or more employees since Congress has not given OSHA the power to enact such a rule. The mandate would have affected more than 80 million people.
President Biden, in a statement issued in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, called on states and businesses to step up “and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities.”
The administration said the mandates would help fight the pandemic.
President Biden expressed disappointment with the decision “to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees”.
He added: “I call on business leaders to immediately join those who have already stepped up – including one third of Fortune 100 companies – and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities.”
Former President Donald Trump cheered the court’s decision, and said vaccine mandates “would have further destroyed the economy”.
“We are proud of the Supreme Court for not backing down,” he said in a statement. “No mandates!”
The administration’s workplace vaccine mandate would have required workers to receive a Covid-19 shot, or be masked and tested weekly at their own expense.
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