Vaccination Mandate Cases To Be Heard Friday By US Supreme Court

Bruce Haring
·2 min read

The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Friday in two key legal challenges to the Biden administration’s authority on vaccination mandates.

The public can listen to the oral arguments on the Supreme Court’s website, or download the audio files after the hearing. C-Span will also televise the hearings.

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The first case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, is the more far-reaching. In that case, the Biden administration is attempting to impose a vaccine or test mandate for companies with more than 100 employees.

The second case, Biden v. Missouri, will consider a vaccine mandate for health care workers at facilities that receive federal funding.

Both cases were fast-tracked last month. The justices will decide whether the mandates can remain in place while challenges to them continue in lower courts.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandate, issued on Nov. 5, requires all employers with 100 or more employees to require employees to be fully vaccinated or be tested weekly. It also mandates masks at work. The mandate would cover an estimated two-thirds of US workers.

The US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit reinstated the mandate after another court had put it on hold, which led to the challenges requesting the Supreme Court to freeze that ruling. The 6th Circuit’s ruling is still in place.

The second case also has broad implications. In November, the Department of Health and Human Services required all health care workers at facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs should be fully vaccinated, a universe of more than 10 million workers.

Since the cases were filed on an emergency basis, rulings are expected to made expeditiously.

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