Idaho Gov. Brad Little will sue President Biden over workplace rule on COVID-19 vaccines
Following Democratic President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 vaccine rules for some private businesses, Idaho Gov. Brad Little announced Thursday that he plans to join another lawsuit to try to stop them.
Biden on Thursday released an Emergency Temporary Standard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which requires that businesses with 100 or more employees either mandate the COVID-19 vaccine or require masking and weekly testing of unvaccinated employees. Businesses that don’t comply by Jan. 4 could face fines. OSHA penalties can be as high as $13,653.
Little had said he would consider a legal challenge against Biden after the president announced his plans for sweeping mandates to fight the spread of the coronavirus in September. Last week, the Idaho governor joined six other Republican states in a lawsuit over a separate mandate, an executive order by Biden that required COVID-19 vaccines among federal contractors.
“Not surprisingly, President Biden is plowing forward with his OSHA rule to punish America’s businesses — yet another unprecedented federal overreach into the private sector,” Little said in a news release Thursday. “I have been actively working with Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and my legal team, and we will join a multistate lawsuit Friday to stop this latest attempt to force the private sector to police President Biden’s vaccine mandates.”
The mandate is expected to cover two-thirds of private businesses and about 84 million workers in the U.S. All employees must receive two doses of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Jan. 4, according to the rule. Employees who work from home or work exclusively outside are exempt.
OSHA has used the Emergency Temporary Standard during the COVID-19 pandemic and in 1983 to address workers’ exposure to asbestos. Legal analysts have told Idaho lawmakers that OSHA will need to show that COVID-19 in the workplace imposes a “grave danger” to employees.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said the Biden administration “clearly has the authority to protect workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic and is “pretty confident” it would succeed in legal challenges.
“The question that we always have, that we ask for the Republicans, is why are you getting in the way?” Jean-Pierre said. “Why are they getting in the way of trying to protect and save lives? That’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Idaho Legislature will reconvene Nov. 15 to consider other laws involving COVID-19 vaccines.
Idaho has reported 3,600 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic began.
White House correspondent Bryan Lowry contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 3:35 PM.
