Miss. Senators join colleagues in opposition to OSHA vaccine order
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) have joined 45 Senators and 136 Representatives in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States. In the amicus brief, the lawmakers urge the Court to block the Biden Administration’s order requiring COVID vaccines or weekly testing for all employees of private businesses with 100 or more employees.
“Congressional members have an interest in the powers they delegate to agencies not being abused—the legislative authority vested in the federal government belongs to Congress, not the Executive branch,” the members wrote.
The legislators argue that Congress did not give the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) the authority to implement a vaccine mandate.
“The promulgation by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) of a sweeping, nationwide vaccine mandate on businesses intrudes into an area of legislative concern far beyond the authority of the agency,” the legislators wrote. “That OSHA exceeded its authority in enacting the ETS Mandate is not a ‘particularly hard’ question.”
Recently, U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hold a special session on January 7, 2022, to consider challenges to the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandates related to businesses that employee over 100 workers and health care facilities that receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.
If it is not blocked, the order will take effect on January 10 and authorize punitive action toward private businesses that do not comply starting February 9.
Mississippi is among the states that have challenged the Biden Administration’s authority to implement these mandates, along with the others he has issued in recent months.
Read the full text of the brief here.
