Supreme Court Blocks COVID Vaccine Rule for Companies, Allows Health Care Worker Mandate
WASHINGTON (CBS News) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration's vaccine-or-test rule for businesses with at least 100 workers for now, but granted a separate request from the Biden administration to allow its vaccine mandate for health care workers to take effect.
In an unsigned opinion on the vaccine-or-test rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the high court said a slew of GOP-led states, businesses and nonprofit organizations that challenged the rule are "likely to prevail" in their challenge to the requirement.
"Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly," the court said. "Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category."