The Supreme Court as composed October 27, 2020 to present.
Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court has blocked the Biden administration from mandating its sweeping vaccine or test requirements for large private companies but allowing the vaccine mandate to stand for some health care workers.
The rulings come three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency measure took effect.
That mandate required workers at businesses with 100 or more employees get vaccinated or provide a negative COVID-19 test every week in order to come to the workplace. Unvaccinated workers are not required to wear masks at work.
The Court says, “Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly.”
It’s a ruling that affects more than 80 million workers.
The judgment is a win for Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt who says Missouri was the first state to file suit to halt the OSHA vaccine mandate.
However, it’s a blow to the attorney general is a separate ruling allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for health care workers in the nation. This affects any organization that receives Medicare or Medicaid funds.
The AG’s office delivered oral arguments in the health care case.
