President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates have been met with a multitude of legal challenges from Republican-led states across the nation.
The administration’s vaccine mandates levied upon private employers, health care workers and federal contractors all now face uncertain fates as the edicts make their way through the judicial system.
The State of Alabama, led by Attorney General Steve Marshall, has taken to the courts to challenge all three of the president’s vaccine decrees.
The attorney general on Monday provided an update to the citizenry concerning the status of Alabama’s legal challenges pending against the Biden administration.
“On Friday evening, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reinstated Biden’s private-employer vaccine mandate,” advised Marshall. “Within hours of that decision, the State of Alabama along with dozens of other state and private parties—filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to immediately halt the mandate until the Court fully hears the case and issues a final ruling.”
He continued, “At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to take up the healthcare-worker vaccine mandate. Previously, as announced on November 30, the State of Alabama was successful in winning a nationwide injunction against the mandate from a federal district court, which was upheld as to the plaintiff states by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.”
Alabama’s chief law enforcement officer conveyed confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court, which holds roughly a 6-3 conservative majority, would find that Biden overstepped his executive authority in issuing the vaccine mandates.
“We are optimistic that the Supreme Court will act swiftly in both cases and agree with the State of Alabama that these vaccine mandates plainly exceed any power given to the federal government by the Congress or the Constitution,” stated Marshall.
Regarding the president’s vaccine decrees for companies contracting with the federal government, Marshall said the edict is presently unenforceable in the state of Alabama.
“While the private-employer and healthcare-worker vaccine mandates head to the Supreme Court, the State of Alabama has won another victory against the federal-contractor vaccine mandate,” he proclaimed. “Over the weekend, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied the Department of Justice’s motion to reinstate the mandate pending appeal, leaving it blocked in Alabama and all other states that are parties in the case.”
The attorney general empathized with the concerns Alabama workers and businesses hold regarding the mandates and declared that his office would continue to combat Biden’s vaccine edicts until victory was achieved.
He concluded, “My office recognizes and fully appreciates the real-life challenges that employees and employers alike are experiencing given the shifting circumstances surrounding these mandates. Rest assured that my team and I will not let up until a full and final victory is secured against them for the people of Alabama.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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