Texas Also Halts Biden's 'Vaccine Mandate'... US Department of Justice "Immediate Appeal"

U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Biden's Private Sector Vaccine Mandate
(Washington AP=Yonhap News) On the 13th (local time), U.S. President Joe Biden spoke at the White House in Washington DC regarding the government's response to COVID-19. On the same day, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the Biden administration's mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees of large private companies. However, the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers was upheld. January 14, 2022
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[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The COVID-19 vaccine mandate policy promoted by the Joe Biden administration has also been halted in Texas.

According to major foreign media on the 21st (local time), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas accepted the injunction request filed by federal employee groups and labor unions to suspend the enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Previously, these groups had filed the injunction request to suspend the enforcement of the administrative order requiring contractors working with federal government employees to also be mandatorily vaccinated against COVID-19. Judge Jeffrey Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas stated, "The President does not have the legal authority to compel federal employees to get vaccinated," adding that "(the President) is exercising excessive authority related to federal employment."

Following the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the administrative order mandating vaccines for federal employees was suspended starting from that day. The administrative order concerning contractor employees was excluded from this decision. This is because the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia had temporarily suspended the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate policy nationwide last month.

The Department of Justice immediately announced it would appeal. An appeal against the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia is already underway. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing, "We are confident in our legal authority regarding this matter," adding that "93% of federal employees have received at least one dose of the vaccine."

The Biden administration issued an executive order last September mandating federal employees to be vaccinated unless they qualify for medical or religious exemptions. However, courts have repeatedly put the brakes on this. On the 13th of this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that expanding the vaccine mandate policy, which applied to federal employees, to the private sector was an overreach of authority. The U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Missouri, accepted an injunction request filed by 10 state governments last month, stating that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services does not have the authority to compel its employees to get vaccinated.