President Joe Biden’s demand that American workers get the COVID-19 jab or watch their livelihoods suffer took another blow recently.
A federal appeals court ruled recently that Biden’s push for mandatory vaccines for federal contractors would cause “irreparable injury” to states and workers alike.
The New Orleans-based U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 2-1 ruling upheld a lower court’s decision in September 2021 to block the mandate, as sought by Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi.
In its decision, the majority said it refused to permit Biden “to unilaterally impose a healthcare decision on one-fifth of all employees in the United States.”
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The Biden administration had argued that the president could impose the mandate under the authority to ensure the U.S. government’s procurement system continues to operate smoothly, according to Fox News.
The states rejected that argument. They maintained Biden could claim “nearly unlimited authority” to control the lives of contractors.
The majority agreed.
The judge’s ruling noted, “Hypothetically, the President could mandate that all employees of federal contractors reduce their BMI below a certain number on the theory that obesity is a primary contributor to unhealthiness and absenteeism.” The majority opinion by Judge Kurt Engelhardt also noted that with such power, Biden or any other president could issue rules requiring contractors “take daily vitamins, live in smoke-free homes, exercise three times a week, or even, at the extremity, take birth control in order to reduce absenteeism relating to childbirth and care.”
“To allow this mandate to remain in place would be to ratify an ‘enormous and transformative expansion in’ the President’s power under the Procurement Act,” the circuit court said. “Under Supreme Court precedent, this Court cannot permit such a mandate to remain in place absent a clear statement by Congress that it wishes to endow the presidency with such power.”
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In response to the administration’s claim that the pandemic created extenuating circumstances, the court noted, “The Constitution is not abrogated in a pandemic.”
This is the second time the 5th Circuit has rejected Biden’s mandate.
In November 2021, as The Free Press reported, the court smacked down Biden’s plan Biden to use the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to force businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate workers to either get a COVID-19 vaccine or submit weekly tests proving they aren’t infected with the virus.”
The Supreme Court in January agreed that Biden did not have the authority to impose such a rule, and the administration withdrew the proposal.
The 5th Circuit ruling also came within days of Biden waving the white flag on mandatory shots for military personnel. Last week, he signed the massive federal budget bill that included a provision ending the Pentagon’s COVID mandate for troops.
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