Biden administration withdraws employer vaccine mandate after Supreme Court drubbing

[libertybele]

Biden administration withdraws employer vaccine mandate after Supreme Court drubbing

The Biden administration will withdraw its workplace COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate effective Wednesday in response to a Supreme Court ruling blocking the directive earlier this month.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, tasked with enforcing the mandate, announced Tuesday it was withdrawing the rule as an emergency temporary standard and will work on establishing permanent COVID-19 workplace standards.

"Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule," the agency said in a statement. "OSHA strongly encourages vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace."

The mandate called on businesses with 100 or more employees to require their workers to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or wear a mask and test regularly. The Biden administration first announced details of the rule last November, but it quickly faced legal setbacks in court.

The Supreme Court blocked the mandate on Jan. 13. In its 6-3 decision, the high court ruled the Labor Department, which oversees OSHA, did not have the authority to impose the mandate. OSHA said in its filing to the Federal Register, which tracks government agency rulemaking, that it would withdraw the ETS in response to the court's decision.

The mandate would have affected upwards of 70 million workers who have not been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Employers that failed to comply would have likely been subject to fines from OSHA of around $14,000 per violation if the mandate went into effect. In response to the court's ruling, several prominent businesses, such as Starbucks, announced they would drop their vaccine mandate for employees. ..............

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/biden-administration-withdraws-employer-vaccine-mandate-after-supreme-court-drubbing

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Rather than obeying the law immediately, they took their sweet time to do this as they studied all the alternatives than doing what the court told them to do.

It is all about politics, not the good of the country and adherence to its laws.

[Kamaji]

Rather than obeying the law immediately, they took their sweet time to do this as they studied all the alternatives than doing what the court told them to do.

It is all about politics, not the good of the country and adherence to its laws.

Not so.  The Court did not rule on the merits, the Court ruled on a preliminary injunction staying enforcement of the rule until a decision on the merits could be issued.  As such, OSHA was not, in fact, obliged to withdraw the rule; that they did so indicates that practical considerations have won out, and that OSHA will not continue to fight for the rule as it was issued.

That being said, withdrawing the rule now - which will most likely lead to a dismissal of the case for mootness - may be a strategic move to avoid having a court reach the merits, so that they can tinker with, and fine-tune, the rule and re-propose it in a way that they think will be more likely to survive challenge.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Not so.  The Court did not rule on the merits, the Court ruled on a preliminary injunction staying enforcement of the rule until a decision on the merits could be issued.  As such, OSHA was not, in fact, obliged to withdraw the rule; that they did so indicates that practical considerations have won out, and that OSHA will not continue to fight for the rule as it was issued.

That being said, withdrawing the rule now - which will most likely lead to a dismissal of the case for mootness - may be a strategic move to avoid having a court reach the merits, so that they can tinker with, and fine-tune, the rule and re-propose it in a way that they think will be more likely to survive challenge.

Exactly.  It was a political move as I said.

[Kamaji]

Exactly.  It was a political move as I said.

No, you said it was a move in defiance of a court order, which it was not.