A federal court ruled on Saturday to temporarily halt the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over the mandate that requires employers with over 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or get tested frequently.
“Yesterday, I sued the Biden Admin over its unlawful OSHA vax mandate,” Paxton tweeted Saturday. “WE WON. Just this morning, citing “grave statutory and constitutional issues,” the 5th Circuit stayed the mandate. The fight is not over and I will never stop resisting this Admin’s unconstitutional overreach!”.
Paxton argued that the mandate is “flatly unconstitutional”. The law would be issued through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and says employees must be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or get tested weekly.
OSHA announced it would send agents to inspect businesses, and if one is found not complying, they can be fined thousands of dollars.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if she thought the mandate would stand up to legal challenges brought against it. “We are very confident that it can,” she said.
“As for the legal side of this, let me be crystal clear to avoid what appears to be possible misinformation or disinformation around the emergency temporary standard being a vaccine mandate. That would be on its face incorrect as has been explicit for months. It is a standard for safe workplace to either comply with weekly testing or to be vaccinated,” Jean-Pierre added.
Over 20 other states are also opposed to the administration’s vaccine mandate, arguing that it will lead to staffing shortages and economic issues.