136 House Reps and 47 Senators File Brief to Supreme Court Urging Them to Reject Biden’s Mandates

Republicans in Congress are asking the Supreme Court to stop President Biden from ordering vaccines to private companies with 100 or more employees, arguing that the president and his administration have exceeded their authority.

The brief drafted by 47 senators and 136 members of the House was filed with the court on Thursday.

‘Vaccine mandates – a prototypical state police power – are not within the purview of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, let alone something on which Congress intended OSHA to take unilateral action under its “emergency” powers,’ they wrote.

The mandate issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was initially scheduled to take effect on January 4.

The court case was initially blocked but then reinstated on appeal.

On January 7, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments.

A brief filed by the Biden administration asks the court to allow the mandate stand, a move that OSHA estimates will save 6,500 lives and prevent about 250,000 hospitalizations over the next six months.

Lawyers at the Department of Justice said the 1970 law that created OSHA was clear that the policy was ‘squarely within OSHA’s statutory authority.’

‘Delaying enforcement of the [mandate] thus would likely cost many lives per day, in addition to large numbers of hospitalizations and other serious health effects,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote.

Conservative groups and Republican state attorneys general oppose the White House.

A brief from 183 Republican members of Congress, led by Reps. Elise Stefanik, Jim Banks, Virginia Foxx, Rick Allen, and Sen. Mike Braun, expressed concern about overreach by the government.

‘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,’ they write.

‘In this case, 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.’

‘And it does so with a mandate enacted through OSHA’s seldom-used ‘emergency temporary standard’ (ETS) provision that allows for bypass of notice and comment rulemaking under certain circumstances. That OSHA exceeded its authority in enacting the ETS Mandate is not a “particularly hard” question.’

Among the business challengers is the National Federation of Independent Business, a group that helps represent small businesses.

As for other efforts of the Biden administration to tackle COVID-19, they are also bogged down in the courts.

In about half of the states, a requirement covering Medicaid and Medicare workers is blocked.

Meanwhile, scientists are raising alarm bells about over-vaccination, and that Omicron is a much milder form of Covid and that it may spell the end of the pandemic because, after infection and recovery, individuals have more anti-bodies.