5th Circuit Appeals Court blocks Biden's "staggeringly overbroad" vaccine mandate
· Nov 13, 2021 · NottheBee.com

The three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate on Friday, calling it "staggeringly overbroad" and that it "grossly exceeds OSHA's statutory authority."

The executive order issued by Biden in September requires businesses with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing.

"[R]ather than a delicately handled scalpel, the Mandate is a one-size fits-all sledgehammer that makes hardly any attempt to account for differences in workplaces (and workers) that have more than a little bearing on workers' varying degrees of susceptibility to the supposedly ‘grave danger' the Mandate purports to address," the panel wrote.

"The Mandate imposes a financial burden upon them by deputizing their participation in OSHA's regulatory scheme, exposes them to severe financial risk if they refuse or fail to comply, and threatens to decimate their workforces (and business prospects) by forcing unwilling employees to take their shots, take their tests, or hit the road."

The court also stayed the mandate last Saturday, saying there were potentially "grave and statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate."

White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday that people "should not wait" for court decisions in order to get vaccinated.

"Do not wait to take actions that will keep your workplace safe," Jean-Pierre said. "It is important and critical to do, and waiting to get more people vaccinated will lead to more outbreaks and sickness."

"This is about keeping people in a workplace safe."

"We're trying to get past this pandemic, and we know the way to do that is to get people vaccinated."

The Biden Administration also said last Saturday the decision "would likely cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day."


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