Last week, Joe Biden announced a wide range of vaccine mandates that could affect 100 million Americans. Biden openly blamed the unvaccinated for ongoing struggles surrounding COVID-19 and its variants, saying:
“We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin.”
The order is part of a 6-pronged strategy that includes measures like increased testing and required masking. And while the federal government has already mandated vaccination for federal employees, the new executive orders signed on Thursday will solidify vaccine requirements for all employees of the Executive Branch and any contractors that do business with the federal government.
Note that the legislative and judicial branches – including congress and anyone who works for them – would be exempt from the requirement.
But Biden is also calling for the Department of Labor to issue an emergency order requiring businesses with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested on a weekly basis. And this is where things get a little dicey.
Biden’s plan to force private businesses to meddle in the private healthcare choices of their employees is based on an obscure and seldom-used rule that has been blocked in court more than half the time.
The new White House mandate will be implemented through an emergency temporary standard (or ETS) issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which regulates workplaces.
OSHA’s mission is to “assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.” It’s not yet clear when these changes will go into effect, but they are expected in the next few weeks.
OSHA has the authority to implement an emergency temporary standard when workers are exposed to a “grave danger” and the standard is needed to protect them. This allows the agency to cut short the usual process for developing a standard, which takes seven years on average.
While the mandate for federal employees and contractors may be more difficult to fight, the ETS seems like an easy target for those who choose to take OSHA to court. And there are already plenty of leaders willing to do just that.
Over 20 Governors have promised to take legal action or other measures to combat the new mandate. Biden lashed out at them in no uncertain terms, saying:
If those governors won’t help us beat the pandemic, I will use my power as president to get them out of the way.”
This should terrify citizens of any political affiliation, as Biden’s comments mark a stark opposition to state sovereignty.
Fortunately, the obscure OSHA allowance has little precedent and a history of failing in court.
Opponents could argue a grave danger, which is not defined in the law, doesn’t exist on a national level as the current spike in COVID-19 cases has been regional.
Before the pandemic, OSHA issued only nine emergency temporary standards – and the last one was in 1983. Courts blocked or stayed four of them and partially vacated another, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
“It’s a seldom-used approach,” said Roger King, senior labor and employment counsel for the nonprofit Arlington, Virginia-based HR Policy Association, which examines public policy issues for large employers.
OSHA’s mandate could also be vulnerable to legal challenges because months have passed since vaccines became widely available, and it may be difficult for the agency to explain why there is a grave danger now but there was not one earlier this year, said James Sullivan of law firm Cozen O’Connor, who represents employers.
Courts also could find that the mandate’s 100-employee threshold is arbitrary, providing grounds to invalidate the rule, according to Sullivan.
OSHA implemented an ETS in June to address COVID-19 for healthcare settings, inviting comments on whether the ETS should become a final rule. The American Hospital Association urged withdrawing the standard, arguing that COVID-19 was not a grave danger at the job site since studies showed such infections were more likely to occur in the community.
Under the new rule, OSHA can fine businesses $14,000 per violation, which could add up to a staggering amount of money for employers who contest the mandate.
Sullivan believes that Biden knows the OSHA rule is likely to be overturned, but hopes that any defeat in court comes after many employers begin to comply with the rule and millions of people are forced to be vaccinated.
This is one of the most direct attacks on civil liberty in a generation. After 2 years of conditioning, citizens and business owners are trained to follow any arbitrary rule or order passed down by the tyrannical elite.
This mandate will fail. But employees will likely be stuck in seemingly impossible situations as the legal battle runs its course. It is imperative that we not comply. As employees or business owners, we MUST stand our ground.
That may mean getting fired for refusing to accept a dangerous, ineffective, and experimental drug. If your employer is willing to fire you, LET THEM. When the smoke clears, there will no doubt be thousands of lawsuits for wrongful termination, and we’ll be on the winning side.
Too bad the federal mandate does not include Judicial and Legislative Branches. That would have almost ensured that it gets over ruled. Smaller government would be a benefit if it were not.
The claim that OSHA, a federal agency, has the authority to impose it’s will on state businesses is not correct. Title 4 section 72 of the US Code limits the jurisdiction of all federal law to the District of Columbia except in specific cases, and those cases must be in line with the Constitutions. If a business is not a federal entity the federal statutes do not apply to them. This is in line with the restrictions imposed on the federal government by the US Constitution. The representatives of the states, the “People”, are the primary creators of the three Constitutions effecting the federal government’s authority and jurisdictional powers. The Constitutions are contracts between the states and federal government where the states are the masters and the federal government is the servant. The federal government has no authority over the people or states except for those granted to it by the Constitutions. David Myrland wrote a nice article on the effect of 4 USC 72. But if you do not fight for your rights you have none.
Right on!
Thank you. My comment was going to be along these lines, but your eloquent comment pretty much covers it. I will only add that OSHA is an unconstitutional agency and thus has no true authority. The only reason it can do anything is that is has taken/seized power and so far, no one has challenged it or objected enough to challenge its existence or eliminate it. (See the video “Noncompliant.”)
What happen with the legal stand of ABUSE OF POWER/ i am especulating that somebody up there should apply the law and brakes on people like Biden, and others.
For those who may believe that they need help from government or medical fascists to govern their health. By all means those people are more than welcome to make that their decision for themselves. Sad since many people haven’t learned from the past track records of western medicine in most cases. For those of us who have a better system of medical protocols to work with, getting better results without the adverse medical reactions including death. Seems to me that we deserve every right to be the governor over our own healthcare or better yet, preventive medical decisions.
I and many others are not, have never been or may never be a health threat to anyone else including ourselves. Mainly because we can see with our own eyes that so-called medical solutions promoted by certain factions are non-solutions for people who want to heal or remain healthy. It is what it is. In a just society. People who have been blessed to keep and live healthy lives would be left alone and allowed to keep doing what’s working for them. Those who are dealing with health issues would be given treatments and medicines that offered cures or at least a minimizing of suffering for them. Instead we usually see the opposite taking place. No fascist should expect people to submit to or believe in so-called cures that are usually worse than the diseases themselves. Or treatments or medicines that result in people coming down with more diseases than they started with.
Well said Mary!
What about excessive testing that are putting college students through for not complying with the shots. Private university in Florida is mandating getting tested 3x’s a week. They are trying to make it uncomfortable for them so they will give in. Is there anything legal that can done. These poor kids noses are so sore and it’s painful. Would appreciate any feedback.
If enough students went elsewhere they could not function or demand compliance.
I also think another ground to fight this mandate would be in regards to those working from home. The mandate for companies over 100 employees also fails to specify that it only applies to workers who report to a physical location. My own job is 100% remote and there is no requirement to report to an office ever. In fact, the main office for my employer is in another state. I answer phone calls, so I also don’t interact with customers face to face.
Even if these vaccines did protect others, there is nothing a vaccine can do to protect customers and co-workers more than the fact that we all work from home does. This is exactly why this requirement is stupid. It should be up to the employers to decide what best suits the needs of the business and the employees. Many employers don’t want to mandate because they are afraid of losing workers. Many employees can’t afford to fight this or be without a job for any time and there is no reason to mandate jobs that do not require direct interaction with co-workers and customers.