19 States File Lawsuits Against Vaccine Mandates for Federal Contractors

Cleaning crews working federally contracted jobs are among the workers that will be affected by the outcome of lawsuits against the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The mandate requires that all employees of federal contractors be vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 8, 2021.

Last week, 19 states filed lawsuits in four federal courts challenging the mandate, ABC News reports. On Friday, attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming signed on to one lawsuit, which was filed in a federal district court in Missouri. Another group of states—Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia— filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Georgia.

Texas also sued individually on Friday in a federal district court in Galveston, Texas, and Florida sued on Thursday. All the lawsuits are arguing that the requirement that federal contracts receive COVID-19 vaccines violates federal law. and is an overreach of federal power. The lawsuits claim the president doesn’t have the authority to issue the rule and that it violates procurement law. The suits also argue that the rule violates the 10th Amendment reserving power to the states, illegally uses federal spending to coerce the states, and that 60 days of public comment wasn’t properly allowed.

“If the federal government attempts to unconstitutionally exert its will and force federal contractors to mandate vaccinations, the workforce and businesses could be decimated, further exacerbating the supply chain and workforce crises,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican, said in a statement. “The federal government should not be mandating vaccinations, and that’s why we filed suit today—to halt this illegal, unconstitutional action.”

U.S. President Joe Biden has argued that sweeping vaccine mandates will help end the deadly pandemic. The Democratic Party of Georgia called the lawsuit filed in their state a “dangerous political stunt.”

All but two of the states that have sued trail the national average in vaccination rate. Only New Hampshire and Florida exceed the nationwide rate.

A number of states have also said they will challenge Biden’s plan to have the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issue a rule that would mandate vaccines for all private businesses with 100 or more employees.