Six More States File Complaint Against Biden Admin Over Federal Vaccine Mandate

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Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, Louisiana, and Mississippi have joined 11 other states in filing a complaint against the Biden administration. 
• Why: States arge the vaccine mandate put in place for federal contractors and subcontractors is an abuse of power, takes away their sovereignty, and violates their constitutional rights.
• Where: The vaccine mandate affects federal contractors and subcontractors nationwide.

A total of 17 states have filed complaints against the Biden administration over a vaccine mandate requirement for federal contractors and subcontractors. 

Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi last week joined 11 other states who had already filed suit.

The states argue the mandate is an abuse of power, a violation of their constitutional rights, and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. 

“The President of the United States has forgotten that ‘even in a pandemic, the Constitution,’ which he took an oath to uphold, ‘cannot be put away and forgotten,’” Louisiana, Mississippi, and Indiana said.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Sept. 9 mandating that — among other groups — all federal contractors and subcontractors must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8 or their first first day on a new contract.

The order expanded on a previous mandate the Biden administration put forth in July which had opt-out clauses and only required vaccination for contract employees doing jobs in federal workplaces. 

Florida was the first state to file a complaint on Oct. 28, while Missouri, Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Montana, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming followed its lead on Oct. 29. 

While asking for an injunction, Florida argued it would suffer “immediate irreparable harm” if the vaccine mandate was not blocked. 

“The President’s procurement authorities are not a backdoor to a nationwide vaccine mandate,” the state said. “His use of those authorities is unprecedented in our history and intrudes radically on individual autonomy and state sovereignty.”

Florida argued the mandate could cost their universities millions of dollars in lost federal contracts and could cause them to lose corporate income tax revenue. 

“Florida faces the untenable choice between suffering widespread and irreparable economic harm through lost contracts with the federal government or violating state law and changing state policy,” the state said. 

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Indiana, meanwhile, claim the mandate “suffers from fatal flaws” and will affect one in every five American workers — and thus the economy as a whole. 

“(The mandate) threatens State budgets with widespread implications for safety-net programs, pension funding, state credit ratings, and virtually all state-funded priorities,” the trio said. 

The states argue the mandate also takes authority — and sovereignty — away from the states to oversee its own public health, while itself relying on laws unrelated to health. 

The trio argue the mandate ultimately violates a number of constitutional restraints, including the Nondelegation Doctrine and the Tenth Amendment.

“The federal regulatory actions implementing the Contractor Vaccine Mandate provide no reasoning whatsoever, and the few fragmentary and conclusory explanations the Executive has provided conflict with each other and with the statutes purportedly authorizing the Mandate,” Louisiana, Mississippi, and Indiana say. 

Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, meanwhile, claim the mandate injures their sovereignty and that “numerous employees may be fired, retire, or quit their jobs” because of it. 

“A natural and predictable consequence of the mandate is that employers who are critical to the supply chain, and are also federal contractors, will likely lose significant numbers of employees,” the states said. 

This loss of employees will only exacerbate already existing supply chain struggles, says Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, who argue further that the mandate will lead to discrimination against workers who are unvaccinated. 

All of the class action lawsuits seek to enjoin the Biden administration from being able to enforce the vaccine mandate as it is written. 

In September, a group of federal employees lodged a class action lawsuit against President Biden, claiming the vaccine mandate violated their religious freedom and the US Constitution. 

Do you believe the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors violates states’ constitutional rights? Let us know in the comments! 

The states are represented by their attorney generals. 

The Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Class Action Lawsuits are Missouri, et al., v. Biden, et al., Case No. 4:21-cv-01300, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri; Florida v. Nelson, et al., Case No. 8:21-cv-02524, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida; Commonwealth of Kentucky, et al., v. Biden, et al., Case No. 3:21-cv-00055, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and Louisiana, et al., v. Biden, et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-03867, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. 

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• New York Healthcare Workers Can No Longer Claim Religious Exemption From Vaccine Mandate, Says Appeals Court
• United Workers Want Separate Classes in Airlines Vaccine Mandate Class Action
• Judge Approves $160M Settlement In VA Nurses’ Overtime Class Action
• Judge Approves $5m Preliminary Settlement in Rutgers COVID-19 Tuition Case