19 States Sue Biden to Stop Federal Vaccine Mandate
Multiple federal lawsuits are challenging Joe Biden’s yet-to-be-implemented executive order mandate ...
Multiple federal lawsuits are challenging Joe Biden’s yet-to-be-implemented executive order mandate that attempts to require businesses employing 100 or more (as well as any private business holding federal contracts) to vaccinate their employees.
One lawsuit, filed in federal court in Missouri, includes Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Texas sued Biden individually. A third lawsuit filed in Georgia includes Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia as plaintiffs.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has announced Florida is suing as well, bringing the total to 19 states.
State lawsuits argue that the mandate violates federal procurement law and is an overreach of federal power. Also at issue is the states’ argument that the mandate is a violation o the 10th Amendment (separation of power) and unconstitutionally uses federal spending to coerce the states.
In a statement on Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said, “The Biden Administration has repeatedly expressed its disdain for Americans who choose not to get a vaccine, and it has committed repeated and abusive federal overreach to force upon Americans something they do not want.” The Texas suit states that the order is, “using subterfuge to accomplish what they cannot achieve directly—universal compliance with their vaccine mandates, regardless of individual preferences, healthcare needs, or religious beliefs.”
Georgia governor Brian Kemp said in a press release that Biden’s mandate puts Georgia state agencies in “an untenable position,” and in a statement that, “Polling shows 70 percent of unvaccinated Americans say they would quit their jobs if their company required the COVID-19 vaccine. From an employer’s perspective, 9 in 10 fear significant reductions in their workforce if they had to implement vaccine mandates.”