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Supreme Court halts COVID-19 vaccine rule for US businesses, trucking industry declares victory

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Supreme Court halts COVID-19 vaccine rule for US businesses, trucking industry declares victory
The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job. The court's order Thursday, Jan. 13, during a spike in coronavirus cases deals a blow to the administration's efforts to boost the vaccination rate among Americans. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.

At the same time, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S.

The court’s orders Thursday, Jan. 13, during a spike in coronavirus cases was a mixed bag for the administration’s efforts to boost the vaccination rate among Americans.

Members of the trucking industry expressed a sense of relief following the Supreme Court’s decision.

“This is a victory for the trucking industry as TCA, ATA, and many other partners incessantly voiced our concerns about the wide-reaching negative repercussions this mandate would have,” said David Heller, vice president of government affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA).

“We applaud the court for moving quickly on this ruling as the deadline for compliance with the ETS was expected to go into effect earlier this week,” Heller continued. “It is imperative that the professional truck driver has the ability to safely, efficiently, and effectively deliver our nation’s freight so that our economy and this nation can continue to thrive.”

Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), called the ruling “a tremendous victory” and adding that the vaccine requirements would have interfered with individuals’ private health care decisions.

“Trucking has been on the front lines throughout the pandemic – delivering PPE, medical supplies, food, clothing, fuel, and even the vaccines themselves,” he said. “Thanks to this ruling, our industry will continue to deliver critical goods, as our nation recovers from the pandemic, and we move our economy forward.

The court’s conservative majority concluded the administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees. More than 80 million people would have been affected.

“OSHA has never before imposed such a mandate. Nor has Congress. Indeed, although Congress has enacted significant legislation addressing the COVID–19 pandemic, it has declined to enact any measure similar to what OSHA has promulgated here,” the conservatives wrote in an unsigned opinion.

In dissent, the court’s three liberals argued that it was the court that was overreaching by substituting its judgment for that of health experts.

“Acting outside of its competence and without legal basis, the court displaces the judgments of the government officials given the responsibility to respond to workplace health emergencies,” Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a joint dissent.

When crafting the OSHA rule, White House officials always anticipated legal challenges — and privately, some harbored doubts that it could withstand them. The administration nonetheless still views the rule as a success, having already driven millions of people to get vaccinated and spurred private businesses to implement their own requirements, which are unaffected by the legal challenge.

Both rules had been challenged by Republican-led states. In addition, business groups attacked the OSHA emergency regulation as too expensive and likely to cause workers to leave their jobs at a time when finding new employees is already difficult.

The vaccine mandate that the court will allow to be enforced nationwide covers virtually all health care workers in the country. It applies to health care providers that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funding, potentially affecting 76,000 health care facilities as well as home health care providers. The rule has medical and religious exemptions.

Decisions by federal appeals courts in New Orleans and St. Louis had blocked the mandate in about half the states. The administration already was taking steps to enforce it elsewhere.

In the health care case, only justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito noted their dissents.

“The challenges posed by a global pandemic do not allow a federal agency to exercise power that Congress has not conferred upon it. At the same time, such unprecedented circumstances provide no grounds for limiting the exercise of authorities the agency has long been recognized to have,” the justices wrote in an unsigned opinion, saying the “latter principle governs” in the health care cases.

More than 208 million Americans — 62.7% of the population — are fully vaccinated, and more than a third of those have received booster shots, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All nine justices have gotten booster shots.

The justices heard arguments on the challenges last week. Their questions then hinted at the split verdict that they issued Thursday.

The Trucker News Staff contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. The Trucker Media Group is subscriber of The Associated Press has been granted the license to use this content on TheTrucker.com and The Trucker newspaper in accordance with its Content License Agreement with The Associated Press.
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