Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Thursday that he led efforts with attorneys general from 21 states in filing a Petition for Rulemaking, requesting that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to repeal the “unlawful federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers and withdraw related guidance.”
The petition filed by the attorneys general requests that HHS and CMS repeal the mandate that requires healthcare facilities employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and withdraw any guidance related to it, Skrmetti’s office announced in a press release.
Skrmetti’s office notes that the mandate was originally designed to work in coalition with other federal vaccine mandates, however, it explains that the State of Tennessee successfully challenged those other mandates while various federal courts nationwide struck them down or set them aside.
In addition, the attorneys general claim in their filing that CMS used the spread of the Delta variant to sidestep both notice-and-comment rulemaking and not consult appropriate state agencies as it is obligated to do so.
As a result, the attorneys general said that the “remaining CMS mandate only serves to exacerbate the shortage of healthcare workers and put vulnerable Tennesseans at risk.”
The petition reads in part, “by encroaching upon States’ traditional police power, particularly without clear congressional authorization or an intelligible principle to guide its discretion, the agency has exceeded its authority.”
“Evidence continues to mount that the ongoing mandate is an unprecedented overreach of the Federal government and has exacerbated shortages of healthcare workers in Tennessee and other states,” Skrmetti said in a statement. “This office will relentlessly protect Tennesseans from federal overreach.”
In addition to Skrmetti, the petition was led by attorneys general from Montana, Louisiana, and Arizona while being joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
the federal gov’t, biden admin, and the jab makers should be financially liable for any adverse effects caused.
NO VAX AMNESTY
Hear! Hear!
When I started Nursing, 25 years ago, you were offered vaccinations. You had every right to refuse them. You knew the risk of caring for the sick. And sometimes we all get a respiratory virus or a stomach virus. That is why you have sick days.
I have taken the flu shot and gotten the flu. How is possible?
I have also taken the Hepatitis B Vaccine twice and never converted with antigens. How is that possible?
It’s about time.
Sure do not miss Skrmetti’s predecessor, you know, what’s his name, who never led in anything.