Over 40 senators join efforts to officially challenge Biden’s vaccine mandate
President Biden officially announced the vaccine mandate on November 4th. It came through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) rule that would require private-sector employees to submit proof of vaccination or get tested weekly, effective January 4th. The current version of the temporary rule applies to companies with over 100 employees and could result in a $14,000 fine per violation. Mandating vaccinations by the federal government in the private sector remains a controversial hot-button issue that spurred protests and pushback across the country.
By late Friday, 19 states have sued Biden’s administration over the mandate, citing “grave statutory and constitutional” issues with the rule. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling yesterday that freezes the vaccine mandate, providing the administration time to respond to the request for a permanent injunction against the rule by 5 p.m. Monday.
In the meantime, over 40 senators have joined efforts to officially challenge the mandate. These senators include:
- Sen. Mike Braun,
- Sen. Dan Sullivan,
- Sen. Bill Hagerty,
- Sen. Roger Marshall,
- Sen. Mike Lee,
- Sen. James Lankford,
- Sen. Rick Scott,
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn,
- Sen. Rand Paul,
- Sen. Cynthia Lummis,
- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito,
- Sen. Marco Rubio,
- Sen. John Barrasso,
- Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith,
- Sen. John Thune,
- Sen. Jerry Moran,
- Sen. Roger Wicker,
- Sen. Richard Burr,
- Sen. Mike Rounds,
- Sen. John Hoeven,
- Sen. Pat Toomey,
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville,
- Sen. James Risch,
- Sen. Mike Crapo,
- Sen. Ted Cruz,
- Sen. Tom Cotton,
- Sen. Joni Ernst,
- Sen. Kevin Cramer,
- Sen. Josh Hawley,
- Sen. John Boozman,
- Sen. Jim Inhofe,
- Sen. Chuck Grassley,
- Sen. Todd Young,
- Sen. John Kennedy,
- Sen. Ron Johnson,
- Sen. Ben Sasse,
- Sen. Steve Daines,
- Sen. Deb Fischer,
- Sen. Lindsey Graham,
- Sen. Thom Tillis,
- Sen. John Cornyn along with Congressman Fred Keller (PA-12) (Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections), and other members in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The senators have formally moved to disapprove and nullify President Biden’s vaccine mandate on private employees under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the official process for Congress to eliminate an executive branch rule. The CRA can be used by Congress to overturn certain federal agency regulations and actions through a joint resolution of disapproval. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto, the rule at issue is invalidated.
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