Appeals Court Issues Temporary Halt On Biden Vaccine Mandate For Companies

A U.S. federal appeals court has issued a temporary halt on the Biden administration's newly announced mandate forcing U.S. companies with at least 100 employees to have their workforces vaccinated against COVID-19 or be subjected to weekly testing.

What Happened: Reuters reported the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on a joint petition brought by five states – Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Utah – in conjunction with several businesses and advocacy groups seeking to derail a rule that was scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 4.

The Biden administration’s strategy to mandate private-sector vaccinations was taken under the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) emergency authority over workplace safety. OSHA estimated the mandate would have impacted 84.2 million workers at 1.9 million companies.

What Happens Next: The court declared the mandate has "grave statutory and constitutional” issues and called on the Biden administration to respond to the request for a permanent injunction against its mandate by Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The White House did not publicly comment on the ruling.

Photo: Gerd Altmann / Pixabay