A federal appeals court reinstated President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal workers Thursday.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to lift an injunction ordered in January by a district judge in Texas which blocked the enforcement of the mandate. Roughly 3.5 million federal workers could now face disciplinary action or be fired if they do not get vaccinated and do not have a religious or medical exemption, according to Reuters.
Biden-admin attorneys argued that the president has the same power as a boss in the private sector to require employees to be vaxxed. https://t.co/tIbxdmxOjy
— National Review (@NRO) April 8, 2022
Lawyers for the government argued that the federal trial court did not have jurisdiction over the case and that employees should make complaints via the Civil Service Reform Act. The appeals court agreed, determining the plaintiffs were trying to “circumvent the CSRA’s exclusive review scheme,” the outlet reported.
Over 93% of federal workers are already vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one shot, while 98% have either gotten one shot or are requesting a medical or religious exemption, the White House has said. The original deadline for federal employees to be vaccinated was Nov. 22, before the mandate began working its way through a series of legal challenges. (RELATED: Trump’s CDC Director Was Reportedly Sidelined By Fauci After Urging Him To Investigate Lab Leak)
The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for employees of large businesses was previously blocked by the Supreme Court, although the court allowed a mandate for healthcare workers to stand. Many state and local authorities have dropped vaccine and mask mandates in recent months as COVID-19 cases and deaths have declined drastically.