In a win for those who want vaccines to be available but not mandated, the Biden administration announced on Tuesday it is withdrawing its emergency order vaccine mandate.
The emergency order in question required employers with more than 100 employees to require staff to be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19.
Biden’s emergency order had far-reaching implications, directly impacting at least 85,000,000 Americans.
However, in a show of defiance, the administration announced it will continue to explore legal options and “will be pushing for a permanent rule.”
OSHA released a statement noting they will formally withdraw Biden’s order on Wednesday. However, in an effort to sync their messaging with the White House, the Daily Wire notes, “The agency is not dropping the rule entirely… [they are] planning to keep the order as a ‘proposed rule.'”
OSHA’s memo noted it would continue to support Biden’s vaccination policy by encouraging businesses to enact their own vaccination requirements and testing policies.
“Although OSHA is withdrawing the Vaccination and Testing E.T.S. as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, OSHA is not withdrawing the E.T.S. to the extent that it serves as a proposed rule under section 6(c)(3) of the Act, and this action does not affect the E.T.S.’s status as a proposal under section 6(b) of the Act or otherwise affect the status of the notice-and-comment rulemaking commenced by the Vaccination and Testing E.T.S. See 29 U.S.C. 655(c)(3).”
Biden’s vaccine mandate made its way through several lower courts in late 2021; the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the issue on Jan. 13, staying the ruling of the Sixth Circuit, which said the vaccine mandate was unconstitutional.
Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boering commented on the issue shortly after the Supreme Court ruling:
“At question here isn’t whether or not the government has the right to enforce rules on its own employees. It’s whether or not unelected bureaucrats at OSHA have the right to coerce businesses into forcing PRIVATE employees to follow rules the government never had the right to impose in the first place.”
Boering continued:
“At the end of the day, the government has the POWER to make us all comply, but they do not have the RIGHT to make us all comply.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling and news of OSHA’s compliance is good news for the many business owners struggling to deal with the myriad of COVID-related challenges.
Commenting on recent developments, Karen Harned, Executive Legal Director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said:
“Today’s decision is a welcome relief for America’s small businesses, who are still trying to get their business back on track since the beginning of the pandemic.”
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