As of Tuesday, all of President Joe Biden’s federal COVID vaccine mandates on the public have been halted by the courts.
On Tuesday in Georgia, U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker issued a stay in the federal contractor vaccine mandate lawsuit, restricting enforcement of the nationwide mandate.
Judge Baker issued the order in a case filed by seven states – Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia – along with a number of contractors.
“The Court acknowledges the tragic toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought throughout the nation and the globe,” Judge Baker wrote, adding, “However, even in times of crisis this Court must preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the bounds of their constitutionally granted authorities.”
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves took to social media to announce the news, saying this means there are no federal government vaccine mandates for Mississippi workers.
“Today, the courts put a nationwide injunction on Biden’s unconstitutional federal contractor mandate. That means all three of his unlawful mandates have been STOPPED in their tracks. Big win for liberty. Today, there are NO federal government vaccine mandates for MS workers,” Reeves tweeted.
Today, the courts put a nationwide injunction on Biden’s unconstitutional federal contractor mandate. That means all three of his unlawful mandates have been STOPPED in their tracks. Big win for liberty. Today, there are NO federal government vaccine mandates for MS workers.
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) December 8, 2021
This is big news in Mississippi where a large portion of the state’s workforce is employed by industries that support federal contract work, mainly through defense and NASA.
In Pascagoula, the state’s largest federal contract employer is Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding. Their management had imposed a vaccine requirement that would have initially been effective today, seeking to be in compliance with the White House mandate, the consequence of non-compliance being termination. Ingalls later pushed the vaccine deadline back to early January when OSHA released a memo, but then halted enforcement of the requirement altogether when the courts began halting President Biden’s mandates.
Frank Corder
