The US Supreme Court has suspended the implementation of President Joe Biden's decree to combat COVID-19, ruling that the administration does not have the authority to impose requirements for vaccines or testing for access to the workplace, USA Today writes.
"Although Congress has undoubtedly given OSHA the power to regulate occupational safety rules, it has not given this agency the power to regulate public health more broadly," the court said. "The requirement to vaccinate 84 million Americans selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees certainly falls into the latter category."
The ruling sparked disagreement between the three Democratic Party judges in court.
"In our view, the court's order is a serious misapplication of applicable legal standards," wrote Associate Judge Stephen Brier. "And in doing so, it undermines the federal government's ability to counter the incomparable threat that COVID-19 poses to workers in our country."
In a second unsigned opinion, the court allowed mandatory vaccination of people employed in health facilities that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid. This measure affects about 10 million workers.
"The challenges posed by the global pandemic do not allow a federal agency to exercise power that Congress has not given it," the court said in a separate statement. "At the same time, such unprecedented circumstances do not justify limiting the exercise of the powers that the agency has long been recognized as having."
Four of the conservative judges in the court expressed a different opinion.
"These cases do not concern the efficacy or importance of COVID-19 vaccines," wrote Clarence Thomas, a court associate. "They only concern whether (the administration) has the legal power to force health workers, by forcing their employers, to undergo a medical procedure that they do not want and cannot cancel."
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