On Tuesday, December 7, the U.S. District Court in Georgia issued a temporary nationwide injunction for President Biden’s federal contractor vaccine mandate, which requires employees of all federal contractors to be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022.
The order comes after 7 states, led by Georgia, along with the Associated Builders and Contractors and its local Georgia chapter, argued that the mandate overstepped constitutional authority.
The order, issued by U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia, argues that the “plaintiffs will likely succeed in their claim that the President exceeded the authorization given to him by Congress through the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act when issuing [the mandate].” Baker noted that his order does not mean that vaccines will not help reduce the spread of COVID-19 but rather that President Biden exceeded his power in issuing the mandate.
Baker’s order comes after a Kentucky federal judge issued an injunction for the federal contractor mandate but limited it to Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Baker decided to issue a nationwide injunction, finding that “limiting the relief to only those before the Court would prove unwieldy and would only cause more confusion.”
After Tuesday’s injunction, the Biden Administration has now seen all three of its vaccine mandates – for federal contractors, healthcare workers, and companies with more than 100 employees – halted by the courts.
Even though the federal contractor mandate is temporarily halted, it does not prevent them from implementing their own vaccine requirements.
What’s Next
An appeal by the federal government is all but certain. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has already filed an appeal to last week’s more limited injunction from Kentucky.
There are still numerous challenges to President Biden’s vaccine mandates, including the Biden Administration’s appeal to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the stay issued by the 5th Circuit on OSHA’s private employer vaccine mandate. MBS is continuing to track all challenges to President Biden’s vaccine mandates, and we will send further updates as necessary.
