Twenty-four states have threatened to sue the administration of President Joe Biden, over the president's new order, which requires employers with more than 100 employees to impose coronavirus vaccinations and frequent testing of their workers, according to "The Hill."
A group of Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to President Biden pledging to take legal action if he does not reverse course, arguing that the mandate would be illegal and unlikely to succeed as a public health measure.
The letter states, “Vaccines have helped protect millions of Americans, and there are certainly others who could benefit from having this treatment, but to convince those who are reluctant to do so requires you to allow room for debate and disagreement. Instead, you have given the American people flimsy legal arguments. Contrasting statements, threatening directives, it is as if your goal is to sow division and distrust, rather than promote unity and public health.”
Earlier this month, Biden directed the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to order employers with 100 or more employees to vaccinate or have workers undergo COVID-19 testing on a weekly basis, and the rule would affect tens of millions of workers in the sector. The private.
Republicans publicly booed the presidential directive, while Biden stuck to his decision, defending it as critical to government efforts to increase vaccination rates in the face of rising cases and deaths from the coronavirus.
"The vast majority of the American people know we have to do these things," Biden said last week, when asked about Republican criticism of his decision. "We're going to get them done."
Biden's vaccination decision is sure to set the stage for a legal battle with some of his administration's officials, as Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich of Arizona, who was among the signatories to Thursday's letter, already filed a lawsuit against the administration earlier this week.
In their letter, the group of attorneys general called on Biden to “allow people to make their own decisions about the vaccine,” and added in their letter: “If your administration does not change course, the undersigned attorneys general will seek every legal option available to hold you accountable and support the rule of law.”
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