The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has permitted Biden’s “vaccine or weekly testing” mandate via the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to be reinstated.
The order applies to private companies with 100 or more employees, covering over 84 million workers, AP Newswire reports. Unvaccinated workers would be required to wear a mask and undergo weekly testing unless they work primarily outdoors during their shift or work from home.
As reported by AP, the Biden administration has estimated the rule would save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations over six months. The US Department of Labor said the Court of Appeals’ ruling will allow OSHA to implement “common-sense, science-based measures to keep workers safe and healthy during a deadly pandemic.”
Biden first introduced the mandate in September in collaboration with OSHA. The mandate faced immense pushback that Biden was overstepping his authority. In response to lawsuits filed by more than half the states (twenty-seven in total), a three-judge panel in the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency stay of the mandate.
The Biden administration appealed that decision, and on Friday, the mandate was reinstated by a vote of 2-1.
According to a Forbes analysis, the two-judge majority decision in the appeals court was courtesy of Bush and Obama era appointees. The judges stated that due to US Code 655, OSHA has the right to authorize rules to protect the wellbeing of their employees. The third and dissenting judge was a Trump-era appointee.
The court’s formal statement reads as follows: “The record establishes that COVID-19 has continued to spread, mutate, kill, and block the safe return of American workers to their jobs… To protect workers, OSHA can and must be able to respond to dangers as they evolve.”
The sole dissenting judge stated that OSHA had no reasonable logic to enforce a mandate for workers.
The mandate stated above, known as the “Large Business Mandate,” is only one of several mandates Biden’s administration has implemented.
Other mandates, including those for federal contractors, have been put on hold.
“It will also have a major impact on the economy at large, as it limits contractors’ and members of the workforce’s ability to perform work on federal contracts,” said Judge Stanley Baker, regarding the contractors’ mandate.
An injunction was also placed on Biden’s mandate for healthcare workers, but that decision was overturned last week. The back-and-forth appellate process could continue for quite some time.