Miss. Senators join nearly 40 Republican Senators in support of Congressional Review Act challenge to stop vaccine mandate for private sector workers
Today, Mississippi U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith announced they have joined nearly 40 Republican Senators in supporting a Congressional Review Act (CRA) challenge to stop President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring private businesses to require COVID-19 vaccines for their employees.
“President Biden’s unconstitutional federal vaccine mandates are an extreme abuse of power that puts Americans’ livelihoods in the crosshairs,” Senator Wicker said. “In addition, the mandate threatens to wreck the economy. A large percentage of American workers will simply leave the workforce rather than be told what to do by the federal government. This legislation would overturn the President’s mandate on private employers and protect millions of hardworking Americans from an intrusion on their personal liberty.”
Senator Wicker stated that he has encouraged Americans to continue getting vaccinated, but that it is wrong for the federal government to demand that individuals put a vaccine in their bodies under the threat of losing their jobs.
Senator Hyde-Smith made her position on the matter plain, saying the President has exceeded his authority.
“The United States is not China or some other tyrannical country. President Biden exceeded his authority in his rush to force the vaccines on the American people,” Senator Hyde-Smith said. “I believe the COVID-19 vaccines save lives, but I also trust the American people to make the best medical decisions for themselves and their families at this point in the pandemic.”
Senator Hyde-Smith joined a news conference earlier today regarding the challenge to the Biden vaccine mandate. Hyde-Smith stated that “the decision to be vaccinated should be up to the individual, and not to the government.”
The Congressional Review Act is the official process for Congress to eliminate an Executive Branch rule. It will be filed immediately after the Biden administration issues its final rule to mandate vaccines for employees at private businesses with more than 100 employees. The rule will affect more than 80 million Americans and impose $14,000 fines for persons who do not comply.
It is expected that the Biden Administration will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to officially mandate the vaccine requirements this week.
According to the Congressional Research Service, “If a joint resolution of disapproval is submitted within the CRA-specified deadline, passed by Congress, and signed by the President, the CRA states that the disapproved rule “shall not take effect (or continue).” That is, the rule would be deemed not to have had any effect at any time. Even provisions that had become effective would be retroactively negated.”
U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), the Ranking Member on the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, filed the CRA.
“Since the announcement of President Biden’s vaccine and testing mandate in September, I have led the charge to strike down this vast overstep of authority by the federal government,” Senator Braun said. “Today, we are one step closer to protecting the liberties of millions of Americans in the private sector workforce under the Congressional Review Act. I urge my Senate colleagues to vote in favor of this disapproval resolution in the coming weeks.”
Anne Summerhays
