A three judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana has temporarily blocked the Biden administration OSHA vaccination mandate [Court Ruling Available Here].

A group of states including Louisiana and Texas along with businesses, religious groups and organizations filed their petition on Friday with the court. The Biden administration must reply to the court by 5:00pm Monday thereafter the court will decide if a permanent injunction is warranted.

New York Times – […] At the core of the legal challenge is the question of whether OSHA exceeded its authority in issuing the rule and whether such a mandate would need to be passed by Congress. […] The suit against the mandate stated that President Biden “set the legislative policy” of substantially increasing the number of Americans covered by vaccination requirements, and “then set binding rules enforced with the threat of large fines.”

“That is a quintessential legislative act — and one wholly unrelated to the purpose of OSHA itself, which is protecting workplace safety,” the suit said. “Nowhere in OSHA’s enabling legislation does Congress confer upon it the power to end pandemics.”

A separate lawsuit against the new rule was also filed on Friday in the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis by 11 Republican-led states, among them Texas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah.

The Fifth Circuit panel said in a brief order, signed by a deputy clerk, that the judges were blocking the regulation “because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate.” It said the rule was suspended “pending further action by this court.” (read more)

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