On January 13 the U.S. Supreme Court made a historic decision on the enforceability of two Biden administration Covid vaccine mandates.

            The Court ruled that an Occupational Safety and Health Administration Emergency Temporary Standard  mandating that employers with at least 100 employees require that employees be vaccinated, or wear face coverings and submit weekly Covid test results, is  not enforceable.  The Court decided that OSHA exceeded its statutory authority as an administrative agency in imposing this mandate.

            The Court also decided that a separate Rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requiring vaccination of  all employees of Medicare and Medicaid service providers is enforceable.

            The Supreme Court did not consider a third mandate, an Executive Order requiring that employees of Federal contractors and subcontractors be vaccinated.  The enforcement of that Order remains stayed nationwide by several lower court decisions.  It is likely that the Supreme Court will eventually rule on this Executive Order.

            The Supreme Court issued this decision just six days after the Court heard arguments in this case.  This lightning fast speed shows the importance of these issues to our country.