Small business owners and employees all over the United States have finally caught a break, thanks to the United States Supreme Court.
In a monumental decision, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Biden’s vaccine mandates for businesses with 100 or more employees.
Biden’s previous executive order aimed to issue a vaccine mandate through OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
It has since been struck down by the Supreme Court; now, 80 million Americans will no longer have to choose to be vaccinated or lose their jobs.
The Supreme Court ruled OSHA did not have the authority to force mandates because the agency is set up to oversee workplace standards, not manage broad public health crises.
The Supreme Court votes 6-3 to block the Biden vaccine mandate. Huge win for federalism and the constitutional rule of law in this country.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 13, 2022
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The Supreme Court went on to rule COVID-19 is not an occupational work hazard. It can occur outside of the workplace and is no more dangerous than crime, air pollution, or other common sicknesses.
The three dissenters were Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor who believed OSHA did have the right and authority to issue vaccine mandates, due to the unique situation of the pandemic.
The Second Supreme Court Decision Was Sad News for Healthcare Employees
In a shocking turn of events, Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with liberal judges. They created a 5-4 ruling which upheld Biden’s federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.
The opinion wrote due to the unprecedented times we are in, the Supreme Court will not limit the exercise of an agency that’s been recognized to have authority over health crises.
Roberts and Kavanaugh joined liberal justices in allowing the HHS mandate on healthcare workers to stand.
— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) January 13, 2022
Justice Clarence Thomas was baffled at the court’s decisions; he wrote in a dissenting opinion it’s not right to force healthcare workers to undergo a procedure that can never be undone.
Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett also voted against Biden’s vaccine mandate towards healthcare workers.
Chief Justice John Roberts has been notable for siding with liberal judges on controversial cases, but now Justice Kavanaugh has joined the same club.
Many conservatives feel betrayed by Kavanaugh’s decision to support Biden’s mandate, being they fought so hard for him when he was facing false allegations of sexual assault.
Americans were willing to fight for Kavanaugh, but unfortunately, he wasn’t willing to fight for Americans.
All things considered, it will be interesting to see what’s Trump opinion of Kavanaugh is now, since he nominated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court during his presidency.
There are more vaccine mandate cases looking to make their way to Supreme Court. For instance, a mandate that involved vaccinating government contract workers was put on hold after a lower court blocked it.
Today may have been a victory for employees everywhere, but it was a loss for healthcare workers who were on the frontlines throughout this entire pandemic.
