Courts circumvent the CP

Another Biden administration requirement that employees get vaccinated against COVID-19—this time for federal workers—was blocked by a federal district court in Texas on Jan. 21. The directive is now on hold pending a Justice Department appeal of the ruling.

The ruling follows on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court blocking the Biden administration's vaccine-or-testing directive for large employers last week. However, the Supreme Court lifted the stay on a vaccination directive for health care providers that are Medicare or Medicaid recipients.

The president does not have broad enough authority to require all federal employees to consent to vaccination against COVID-19 or lose their jobs, according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

'A Bridge Too Far'

"The court notes at the outset that this case is not about whether folks should get vaccinated against COVID-19—the court believes they should," the court stated. The case "is not even about the federal government's power, exercised properly to mandate vaccination of its employees. It is instead about whether the president can, with the stroke of a pen and without the input of Congress, require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment. That, under the current state of the law as just recently expressed by the Supreme Court, is a bridge too far."

Federal employees had until Nov. 22, 2021, to be fully vaccinated. But Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said he expected federal agencies and contractors "will follow their standard HR processes and that for any of the probably relatively small percent of employees that are not in compliance, they'll go through education, counseling, accommodations and then enforcement," Reuters reported. He added, "We're creating flexibility within the system. … There is not a cliff here."

The district court said it understood that the disciplining of some employees who declined to get vaccinated was imminent. Irreparable harm would likely result from a vaccine requirement for federal workers, according to the district court.

"The 5th Circuit has already determined that the Hobson's choice employees face between their job(s) and their jab(s) amounts to irreparable harm," said the district court, which noted it wasn't deciding the ultimate issue of whether the federal directive was lawful, but simply whether to issue a preliminary injunction to block the requirement. "Regardless of what the conventional wisdom may be concerning vaccination, no legal remedy adequately protects the liberty interests of employees who must choose between violating a mandate of doubtful validity or consenting to an unwanted medical procedure that cannot be undone."