It has been suggested since the beginning that creating nationwide vaccine mandates on workers via executive order would be set on very shaky legal ground. Some wondered if that was the point. Sign the order, go through the motions, and start nudging employers and employees to take notice. You better get your Covid vaccine or you’ll soon be out of a job, per the federal government. Many large companies were already heading down that road of mandatory Covid vaccination, they were just using President Biden’s order as cover so they could point to someone else if employees complained.
After numerous legal setbacks, however, and more coming each day, it seems that several Covid vaccine mandates have collapsed around the country as municipalities decide it’s not worth fighting with unions and workers while trying to reach 100% compliance.
Despite the setbacks, Biden has asked companies to plow ahead with mandates even though several courts have halted any work by OSHA on enforcement or compliance:
President Joe Biden on Thursday asked businesses to voluntarily move forward with the administration’s Covid-19 vaccine and testing requirements, even as the rule is challenged in court, after U.S. officials confirmed the first case of the omicron variant in the U.S.
“We’re asking businesses to step forward and do what’s right to protect our workers and to protect our communities, which is to put in place some sort of vaccination requirement or testing requirements for the workplace,” a senior administration official said.
In other words, yes, courts have struck this down, but do the “right thing” and enforce your own mandate on employees. Some companies will continue with that path, but perhaps with a more gentle hand toward employees requesting accommodation.
Beyond private companies, which already won a reprieve from the recent legal decisions, it also appears the Biden administration is backing off enforcement of the federal employee mandate as well:
Federal workers will not be punished for failing to comply with President Joe Biden’s vaccination mandate until next year, the White House announced Monday.
The deadline for federal workers to get vaccinated or face suspension or firing was Nov. 22. The White House said 96.5 percent of the 3.5 million-employee federal workforce, the country’s largest, has already complied.
A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget said Monday that the deadline was “not a cliff and that our goal is to protect workers, not penalize anyone.”
This backing down itself is stunning considering this was the first mandate President Biden imposed, and one that, if challenged, might hold up in court due to his executive authority over most federal agencies and employees.
From all accounts, it would seem the Biden administration is content to let this issue of vaccine mandates slip well into next year, and perhaps wilt slowly in the background due to the legal questions and conflicts it’s creating between workers and employers.
As soon as it was announced that the private employer mandate was pushed beyond the holiday shopping season, to an early January deadline, the writing appeared to be on the wall. An OSHA-backed nationwide employee vaccine mandate was going to be near-impossible to adequately enforce, and asking small to mid-size businesses to try and impose this and provide reports on workforce vaccination status along with regular testing would be difficult.
Despite quacks like Jim Cramer calling for a military-imposed vaccine mandate, the country and the White House seem to be moving in the opposite direction, for now.
