Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost applauded a federal appeals court decision to block the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati agreed late Thursday with a lower court ruling that imposed a preliminary injunction on the proposed mandate that would have also required tens of millions of Americans to wear face masks at work.
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On Monday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Biden Administration’s rule mandating that all federal contractors receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the 5th Circuit’s three-judge panel voted by a 2-1 margin to uphold a prior decision by a lower court that blocked the rule, first implemented by the Biden White House in September of 2021. That ruling came as a result of a lawsuit by the states of Indiana, Louisiana, and Mississippi seeking the overturning of the mandate.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration again Thursday, this time for requiring federal contractors to pay a $15 an hour minimum wage. It’s the 21st lawsuit the attorney general has filed against the administration. Joining him are the attorneys general from Louisiana and Mississippi.
“The president has no authority to overrule Congress, which has sole authority to set the minimum wage and which already rejected a minimum wage increase,” Paxton argues.
Their lawsuit follows one filed last December by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of outdoor adventure guides, Arkansas Valley Adventures (AVA), a licensed river outfitter regulated by the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, and the Colorado River Outfitters Association (CROA). The CROA, a nonprofit trade association, represents more than 150 independent operators who primarily conduct business on federal lands using special use permits through Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.
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President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates have been running into trouble in the courts, with the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the mandate for large businesses, and several judges stopping his mandate for federal contractors. The latest one to do so is Judge Michael Liburdi of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in Phoenix, who ruled on Jan. 27 that the Biden administration lacked authority to implement the mandate.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich brought the lawsuit against the Biden administration over that mandate and others. He told The Arizona Sun Times, “If left unchecked, these unlawful and unconstitutional mandates would essentially override the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to our Constitution, and eviscerate the most basic health care freedoms of millions of Americans. It’s federal overreach at its worst. I will continue to stand up for Arizona. I’m proud to have led the fight against the Biden Administration’s unprecedented power grab. The government shouldn’t be your nanny, and it doesn’t get to be your doctor either.”
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A ban on requiring federal contractors in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee to be vaccinated against COVID-19 remains in place after a federal appeals court upheld an injunction imposed in November.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld an earlier ban with a 2-1 ruling earlier this week, but the ruling impacts only those three states.
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A Tampa federal judge on Wednesday backed Florida’s request to block a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for federal contractors.
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday issued a 38-page decision in response to a request by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for a preliminary injunction against the requirement.
Merryday ruled that Florida had demonstrated a “likely irreparable harm to sovereign interests absent a stay” due to the federal guidance requiring a vaccination requirement that is prohibited in Sections 112.0441 and 308.00317, Florida Statutes.
After the ruling, Moody stated, “Proud to secure an injunction in our case to stop @JoeBiden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors. Floridians should not have to choose b/w the vaccine & their careers. There is still a lot of fight left in us & we will continue to push back against unlawful fed overreach.”
Governor Ron DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw cited a quote from the ruling on her Twitter account: “The absence of evidence…suggests a ruse, a mere contrivance, superficially attempting to justify a sweeping, invasive, and unprecedented public health requirement imposed unilaterally by President Biden.”
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A federal judge in Georgia on Tuesday blocked the only remaining vaccine mandate issued by President Joe Biden’s administration.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Stan Baker will halt a provision that required contractors working with the federal government to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
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Joe Biden is systematically eliminating the religious freedom protections that Donald Trump established. The latest example of Biden’s secularist program comes from his Labor Department, which is planning to undo Trump’s policy of defending the religious freedom of federal contractors.
Trump’s Labor Department protected federal contractors who “hold themselves out to the public as carrying out a religious purpose.”
“Religious organizations should not have to fear that acceptance of a federal contract or subcontract will require them to abandon their religious character or identity,” said Trump’s Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia.
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Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday signed legislation prohibiting public entities from enforcing the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
House Bill 1002, which was the only piece of legislation passed during the Wyoming Legislature’s special session, also provides $4 million in funding for any legal challenges against federal vaccine mandates.
“No public entity shall enforce any mandate or standard of the federal government, whether emergency, temporary or permanent, that requires an employer to ensure or mandate that an employee shall receive a COVID‑19 vaccination,” the bill reads.
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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. David Trone (D-MD) have introduced a bill that would block certain federal grants from going to federal contractors who conduct criminal background checks, or even “inquire” about the criminal history of an applicant. This outrageous proposal reveals the woke left’s dangerous agenda. These radicals who want to defund the police and strip them of legal protections now want to give criminals access to government sensitive information, even our national mint.
Under this measure, every defense contractor who conducts background checks could have their contracts stripped. As a side note, if there are any federal contractors who aren’t currently conducting background checks on applicants, then they should have their government contracts taken away for incompetence.
What could go wrong? A few things come to mind. We could have defense secrets stolen, money syphoned from the U.S. mint, and Drug Enforcement Agency contractors moonlighting for drug cartels.
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