A federal judge in Georgia issued a nationwide court order preventing the U.S. government from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate to federal contractors, temporarily closing the last remaining vaccine requirement by the Biden Administration.
US District Judge Stan Baker in Savannah, Georgia, said Congress clearly did not authorize the president to impose a vaccine requirement on contractors that will be “of great economic and political importance.”
The lawsuit was filed by the states of Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia, as well as by a trade group of contractors.
In September, President Joe Biden said patience was wearing thin with the minority of American adults who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and took several steps, including requiring contractors who work for the federal government to receive vaccines.
The pandemic has killed more than 780,000 Americans, slowed economic growth and saturated supply chains.
Mandatory vaccination has become an increasingly popular tool for private companies to try to reopen offices, and the courts have upheld private mandates as part of a company’s right to set terms of employment.
However, the courts have blocked several vaccine mandates from the Biden Administration for exceeding the authority of the executive branch and usurping power over health policy, which is generally left to the states.
A federal judge in Kentucky temporarily blocked the contractor rule in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee on November 30. The courts have also blocked separate mandates for healthcare workers and for companies employing more than 100 people.
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