December 8, 2021 |
A third Joe Biden vaccine mandate has struck out in a federal court and has been banned nationwide pending further legal action. A federal judge in Georgia yesterday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its vaccine mandate for federal contractors across the country, siding with several state attorneys general and contractors who said the mandate created an unfair economic burden. Other federal courts have barred similar mandates on healthcare facilities and private companies.
Tuesday’s ruling by Judge Stan Baker in Georgia’s southern district, determined that President Biden never had authority under federal procurement law to issue the executive order that established the mandate. The government had argued it was necessary to promote “economy and efficiency” under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act. The judge disagreed, and said the mandate would cause contractors to suffer an “extreme economic burden.”
Yesterday’s ruling follows similar injunction a Kentucky judge issued last week. But it is far broader in its scope, blocking the mandate in all 50 states and U.S. territories.
Wyoming had filed a separate lawsuit over the injection mandate on federal contractors issued in Executive Order 14042. Governor Mark Gordon applauded yesterday’s decision. The governor said in a statement that “this Administration should take note and stand down from this effort” after three courts have issued nationwide injunctions against injecting workers with the gene altering drug therapy against their will.
Nationwide injunctions also have been handed down in federal courts against the mandates on companies with 100 or more employees and for health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Among other factors, the federal judge in Georgia said he was persuaded by testimony from construction contractors, during a day-long hearing last week, who said that fewer than 50 percent of their employees were vaccinated, and many had threatened to quit if forced to get shots. Judge Baker also ruled that the plaintiffs had likelihood of proving their case that Congress never authorized the President to issue the kind of public health mandate contained in E.O. 14042 under the federal procurement act.
In Wyoming’s lawsuit over executive order, Attorney General Bridgett Hill argued that the University of Wyoming would suffer financial harm and other negative impacts because of the mandate on federal contractors. The governor said he and the attorney general would continue to protect Wyoming from the unconstitutional policies emanating from Washington.
The mandate, set to take effect Jan. 4, would apply to approximately 25 percent of the US workforce.
