Biden administration withdraws employer vaccine mandate after Supreme Court drubbingThe 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