Image Credit: Jernej Furman / CC
The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a lower court’s ruling blocking the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors and their employees.
In a 2-1 decision, the court said the mandate could be interpreted to give President Joe Biden “nearly unlimited authority to introduce requirements into federal contracts.”
The mandate could have affected up to 20% of the U.S. work force.
“Today is a victory for freedom,” Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said in a statement. “We will continue to stand up against the Biden Administration’s abuses of power that threaten us now and in the future.”
Landry filed suit along with the states of Mississippi and Indiana challenging the constitutionality of Biden’s requirement that contractors who do business with the federal govornment must ensure their employees have received the COVID-19 vaccinate or face strict mask and testing requirements.
Among other things, the federal contractor complaint claims the scope of the mandate is “as broad as possible.”
“Thus, the guidance ensures that the contractor vaccine mandate applies to all employees of a contractor or subcontractor who is party to a federal contract – even if the employee’s work is completely unrelated to the contract or if the employee will never work in a location with a co-worker who is working on a federal contract,” the lawsuit reads.
