Biden Administration Suffers Setbacks for Vaccine Mandates
From TrialSiteNews.Com TrialSite Staff December 1, 2021
In a setback to the Biden Administration, CBS News is reporting a federal judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the government-mandated vaccine requirement for health care workers. U.S. Judge Matthew Schelp of the federal district court in St. Louis said that the 10 states who challenged the mandate would likely “succeed on the merits of their case.”
Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming all sued the federal government over the mandate. The suit was led by two states’ Attorney General, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and Doug Peterson of Nebraska. In their suit, the 10 states said the Biden mandate violates the Constitution and federal law. The lawsuit centered around rules issued in November from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) mandating workers at facilities funded by the government agencies must get a first dose of the covid vaccine by December 6th and be fully vaccinated by January 4th. The mandate did not allow weekly testing for any of the federal health care workers.
In a report in The Washington Post, the ruling by Judge Schlep was the second setback for the Biden administration in as many days. District Judge Terry A. Doughty of Louisiana ruled in favor of 14 other states who sued the Biden administration over the mandate. In his ruling, Judge Doughty said, “a nationwide injunction was necessary to protect the liberty interests of the unvaccinated.” The Post quoted Doughty as saying CMS did not have the “proper authority” to institute such a mandate.
The Washington Post article points out both Judge Schmitt and Judge Doughty are Trump appointees, and likely, this will not be the final word on these cases as they will be appealed. The Biden administration is currently fighting for another mandate requiring companies with more than 100 employees to have workers vaccinated.
