Federal judge blocks Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker, in Augusta, Georgia, issued a stay to bar enforcement of the mandate nationwide.

It's the latest in a string of victories for Republican-led states pushing back against Biden’s pandemic policies.

The order came in response to a lawsuit from several contractors and seven states: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia.

Baker found the states are likely to succeed in their claim that Biden exceeded authorization from Congress when he issued the requirement in September.

A White House spokeswoman said the Justice Department would continue to defend the mandate.

A federal judge in Kentucky also issued a preliminary injunction against the mandate that applied only to contractors in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

All three of Biden’s broad vaccine mandates affecting the private sector have now been put on hold by courts. Judges previously issued a stay regarding one that applies to businesses with 100 or more employees and another for health care workers.

Florida is part of challenges to all three, but in jurisdictions other than those to issue nationwide injuctions. A lawsuit seeking to halt the mandate against federal workers is being heard by a federal judge in Tampa.

A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision,Sunday, rejected Florida’s request to at least temporarily block the vaccine mandate for health care workers.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals was selected to hear challenges from multiple state to the mandate that affected employers with 100 or more workers. Florida had joined Georgia and Alabama in a lawsuit filed in the 11th U.S. Circuit.

Copyright 2021 Health News Florida