Supreme Court Blocks One Biden Vaccine Mandate, Upholds Another

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked one of President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates while upholding another.

In a 6-3 decision, the nation’s highest court blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) mandate that employers with 100 or more employees must require vaccination for their employees or else require them to undergo weekly testing and wear a mask in the workplace. The mandate, minus the testing part, was originally scheduled to take effect on Friday, and the testing part was supposed to become effective on Feb. 9.

The decision was issued as a per curiam opinion (an opinion by the court published without a named author). Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett were in the majority, while Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented. Gorsuch also issued a separate concurring opinion.

In a separate decision, the Supreme Court lifted a previous injunction on the mandate requiring health care workers in facilities that receive Medicaid or Medicare payments to be vaccinated, unless they had a medical or religious exemption, thus allowing that mandate to go into effect.

This decision was issued by a 5-4 majority, in another per curiam opinion, supporting the Biden administration’s request to lift the injunction. Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett dissented, with both Thomas and Alito issuing separate dissenting opinions.

Watch above, via CNN.