The United States of America Supreme Court has thrown doubt at the Biden Administration's Covid-19 vaccination and testing mandates initially scheduled to be enforced tomorrow Monday 10th January 2022.
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| Protests outside the Supreme Court on Friday against mandatory vaccination |
The directives issued in November last year by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) intend to have all the workers in the US be fully vaccinated and have mandatory weekly Covid-19 testings.
During the final hearing on Friday 7th January 2022, the court shed doubt when six of the nine justices seemed to be skeptical to let such a broad mandate be implemented without the authorisation of Congress.
US Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr said during the
hearing of about four hours that it has never happened in the history of the US
for an agency to carry out an exercise that affects the whole nation without
the authorisation of the Congress.
“I understand that agencies are
more expert than Congress. I understand the idea that they can move more quickly
than Congress, but this is something that the federal government has never done
before,” he said on Friday.
Chief Justice was responding to U.S.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar who was arguing that agencies such as the OSHA have more understanding of the problem and capacity
to meet the health challenge than Congress has.
Six of the nine Supreme Court justices
also faulted the mandates for not exempting workplaces where workers are not
always together and placing emphasis on jobs as if they are the only places
where people meet.
It's not clear when the ruling will take place
but the mandates had been set to start tomorrow Monday 10th January 2022 which
means that there is a likelihood of the Supreme Court placing a stay of the
directives before the court's decision is delivered.
The private sector, religious
groups, and states lodged the lawsuit against the mandates arguing that the implementing
agencies are overreaching their authority.
Karen Harned the Executive
Director at Small Business Legal Center told CNBC television that if the
court rules in favor of the federal government it will exacerbate the existing
shortage of workers in the American labour market.
"We do expect to see people quitting
their jobs. The workers' shortage is real; this mandate is only going to exacerbate
that reality" she commented yesterday.
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