Supreme Court Declines To Hear Biden Administration's COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Health Workers

On Monday, a federal appeals court in New Orleans became the most recent to hear arguments about whether President Joe Biden overstepped his bounds by requiring that federal contractors' employees receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

The legal background of the contractual obligation is convoluted. The mandate has been stopped or partially blocked in 25 states, and it is currently being contested in more than a dozen federal court districts.

Court Rejects Challenge to Biden's COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

Enforcement was formerly nationwide prohibited by a federal judge's decision from Georgia. However, an Atlanta appeals court limited the application of that decision to the seven states that had filed a lawsuit in that case.

The order, according to a government website, is not being implemented until legal disputes are being resolved in different jurisdictions across the nation, as per AP News. In November 2021, Biden put the mandate into effect.

Despite challenges in lower courts, the Supreme Court decided in January to uphold Biden's vaccine requirement in a 5-4 ruling. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberals to form a majority.

To allow for a trial, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis remanded the case to a federal court in April. However, Missouri immediately appealed to the Supreme Court. The appeal was dismissed by the justices on Monday.

Almost every healthcare provider in the nation is subject to the rule, which also applies to facilities that accept federal Medicare or Medicaid payments. More than 10 million employees at 76,000 medical facilities and home health care providers are impacted. Religious and medical exemptions from the norm exist, according to Fox News.

In May, ten conservative states including Missouri appealed to the Supreme Court again for a decision on the merits. The Administrative Procedure Act, which outlines the procedure federal agencies must follow to approve new regulations, was cited by the states as evidence that the requirement was arbitrary and capricious, and in violation of it.

According to the states, the mandate is currently having a devastating impact on small, rural, and community-based healthcare institutions and systems across the states due to a lack of workers brought on by workers who refuse to get the vaccine. The Biden administration argued in response that the states were relying on outdated data regarding staffing and that the department may impose rules on establishments that receive federal funding, USA Today reported.

States Object Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Rule

The Supreme Court in January decided that the authority Congress granted the federal government to put restrictions on Medicaid and Medicare money was in line with Biden's regulation. It was determined that the basic principle of the medical profession: first, not harm is consistent with requiring medical professionals to take precautions to prevent spreading a harmful virus to their patients.

Along with Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, Missouri filed a lawsuit. In those states, the requirement was blocked by an injunction. Following legal action, the rule had also been banned in 15 additional states, including Arizona and Texas.

The state of Missouri petitioned the 8th US, Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis to postpone preliminary injunctions issued by lower courts against the rule after the justices in January did so, including in Missouri's lawsuit. Circuit Court of Appeals to hasten the case's merits hearing.

Instead, the 8th Circuit returned the case to a federal court in April so that a trial could be held. Then, Missouri filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, arguing that the requirement violates federal administrative law and overrides constitutionally guaranteed state rights.

The mandate, according to the conservative states, devastates small, rural, and community-based healthcare facilities and systems throughout the states, as per Daily Mail.