(However, one of the Republican appointees, Judge Helene N.
Of its 16 sitting judges, five were appointed by Democrats and 11 were appointed by Republicans.
(The Supreme Court this month refused to block New York’s requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus even when they cite religious objections.)Ĭhallengers could also appeal to the full U.S. And because the secretary likely lacks congressional authority to force them to protect themselves, the remaining stay factors cannot tip the balance.”Īll of the judges on the Fifth Circuit panel that had blocked the rule were conservative Republican appointees.Ĭhallengers to the decision could appeal directly to the Supreme Court, which is controlled by a conservative bloc of six Republican appointees. “Vaccines are freely available, and unvaccinated people may choose to protect themselves at any time. “The mandate is aimed directly at protecting the unvaccinated from their own choices,” Judge Larsen wrote. But the case was then reassigned to the Sixth Circuit, which was randomly chosen to consolidate numerous challenges against the rule that had been filed around the country. The Fifth Circuit panel ruled last month that the agency had exceeded that authority, blocking the government from carrying out the mandate. Under a 1970 law, OSHA has the authority to pass a so-called emergency temporary standard, imposing new rules for workplace safety, provided it can show that workers are exposed to a “grave danger” and that the rule is necessary.
The administration estimated that 22 million people would get vaccinated and that 250,000 hospitalizations would be prevented because of the rule, which applies to more than 84 million workers. The rule makes an exception for employees who do not come into close contact with other people at their jobs, such as those who work at home or exclusively outdoors. “To protect workers, OSHA can and must be able to respond to dangers as they evolve.”Įmployers also are allowed to give their workers the option to be tested weekly instead of getting the vaccine, though they are not required to do so unless the worker has an exemption for medical or religious reasons. “The record establishes that Covid-19 has continued to spread, mutate, kill and block the safe return of American workers to their jobs,” wrote Judge Jane B. Several challengers immediately said they planned to file or already had filed emergency motions with the Supreme Court to block the rule. The contested rule, issued by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has faced a wave of lawsuits from businesses and Republican-controlled states. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, overturned a ruling last month by its counterpart in New Orleans, the Fifth Circuit, that had blocked the government from carrying out the rule. The decision, by a split three-judge panel of the U.S. A federal appeals panel on Friday reinstated a Biden administration rule requiring larger companies to mandate that their workers get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing by early January.