Mississippi Governor Reeves hopeful Justices will issue a stay, ultimately strike down the federal mandates.
The U.S. Supreme Court is returning earlier than expected to take up the challenges to President Joe Biden’s COVID vaccine mandates on health care workers and private businesses that employ 100 or more workers.
The Justices will meet Friday, January 7, for the special session. The decision to hold the session was announced before the end of the year after the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the Biden Administration mandate on businesses, allowing the Department of Labor through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) to implement its rules. Those rules had been stalled when the 5th Circuit issued a stay on the President’s mandate in early November.
Following the ruling from the 6th Circuit, OSHA advised businesses that it will begin citations for noncompliance after January 10, 2022.
A special session of the Supreme Court is rare, yet given the timetable from the Biden Administration, the justices had little wiggle room. A ruling from the High Court in the special session could come before OSHA’s planned enforcement.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has remained opposed to President Biden’s vaccine mandates. Attorney General Lynn Fitch, with Reeves’ support, has challenged each of the Biden mandates on behalf of the state, having been successful initially in courts to grant a stay.
“We clearly believe that those federal mandates signed by one individual in the White House are unconstitutional. We have fought this from the beginning,” Reeves told Y’all Politics on Monday. “The action taken by the U.S. Supreme Court is really unprecedented.”
Governor Reeves said the justices’ willingness to come in early to hear these challenges “certainly gives me a reason for optimism.” He noted that the U.S. Supreme Court could issue a stay over the weekend to allow justices the time to consider the arguments before making their final ruling.
Ultimately, the Governor hopes the justices side with Mississippi by striking down the Biden mandates.
You can listen to the live audio from the Supreme Court arguments on Friday by clicking here.
Frank Corder
