Court Blocks Biden’s COVID Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors

Biden Administration

President wanted to ‘unilaterally impose a health care decision on one-fifth of all employees in the United States,’ writes Fifth US Circuit

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 26: U.S. President Joe Biden gives remarks before the start of a meeting with leaders from the Department of Defense in the State Dining Room of the White House on October 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. Biden spoke on a range of topics including his new appointments to the heads U.S. Military branches and his hope that the military reflects the population of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Reuters • December 19, 2022 2:45 pm

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—A U.S. appeals court on Monday said the White House could not require federal contractors to ensure that their workers are vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of government contracts.

A panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to uphold a lower court decision that blocked President Joe Biden’s September 2021 contractor vaccine executive order after Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi brought suit to seek invalidation of the mandate. The court said Biden wanted it “to ratify an exercise of proprietary authority that would permit him to unilaterally impose a healthcare decision on one-fifth of all employees in the United States. We decline to do so.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson)

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