United States President Joe Biden delivers during a speech in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington on Jan.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday recommended companies to implement President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing requirements, despite a federal court order that temporarily suspended the rules.
“Ultimately, the courts will decide, but employers still have to view this as live ETS until it is finally closed,” said Marc Freedman, vice president of the employment policy chamber, of the temporary emergency standard. “You shouldn’t rely on the 5th district’s interim measures,” he said in a statement to CNBC.
The occupational health and safety authority, which oversees occupational safety for the Ministry of Labor, issued the rules in a fast-track procedure that is rarely used.
The U.S. Fifth District Court of Appeals on Friday reiterated its decision to suspend review of the requirements and urged the von Biden administration to stay away from implementation or enforcement until further notice. The appeals court is considered to be one of the most conservative in the country.
The court-ordered hiatus, originally imposed by the three-person panel on Nov. 6, came in response to lawsuits from the Republican attorneys general of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Utah, as well as several private companies.
District judge Kurt D. Engelhardt described Biden’s requirements as “fatally flawed” and “surprisingly too broad” in an opinion published on Friday. While the court has not yet ruled their constitutionality, Engelhardt made it clear that he believes the lawsuits aimed at overturning Biden’s policies are likely to succeed.
Engelhardt, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2018, criticized the requirements as “a sledge hammer for anyone barely trying to account for differences in jobs (and workers)”.
The Biden administration last week asked the court to lift the hiatus, warning that failure to comply with the requirements would “likely cost dozens or even hundreds of lives a day” if Covid spreads. The Justice and Labor Departments claim that OSHA has acted well within its congressional powers. “
Industry associations such as the National Retail Federation, the American Trucking Associations and the National Federation of Independent Business have also sued the Fifth Circuit to lift the restrictions. Industry groups have argued that the mandates would disrupt the workforce and supply chain during the busy Christmas season.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday that the new rules will encourage people to return to work by creating a safer environment where they are less likely to contract Covid, thereby causing staff problems Employees are alleviated.
The US Chamber of Commerce has not filed any lawsuits against the mandates. After the Biden government released the requirements on Nov. 4, the chamber said it is focused on helping its members vaccinate their staff and reporting any implementation issues to OSHA, which will enforce the requirements.
The chamber last month asked White House officials in the Office of Management and Budget to postpone vaccine and testing requirements until after the busy holiday season. OSHA has given companies with 100 or more employees until Jan. 4 to ensure their employees are receiving the vaccinations required to be vaccinated. After this date, unvaccinated employees must present a negative Covid test weekly in order to enter the workplace. Unvaccinated workers must wear face masks indoors in the workplace from December 5th.
The White House last week urged companies to start implementing the requirements despite the court-ordered review.
“People shouldn’t wait,” White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during a briefing. “They should keep moving forward and make sure their workplace is vaccinated.”
The Biden government is facing a flurry of lawsuits aimed at lifting the requirements. Republican attorneys general in at least 26 states have challenged Biden’s policies in at least five federal appeals courts. The Republican National Committee has also challenged them in the DC Court of Appeals.
As Republicans seek to overturn mandates, some of the largest unions in the country want the courts to extend them to smaller companies. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, and Service Employees International Union filed motions for review last week.
The cases are likely to be grouped into a single court by randomly selecting the jurisdictions in which lawsuits have been filed. The Justice Department announced last week that the random selection would take place on Tuesday at the earliest.
OSHA enacted the requirements under the emergency agency established by Congress. The Agency can shorten the process of developing safety and health standards at work, which usually takes years, if the Minister of Labor determines that new regulation is needed to protect workers from a serious hazard.
OSHA Emergency Workplace Safety Standards have had a mixed track record in court. Before the pandemic, the agency had not used its emergency agency since 1983. Courts have stopped or repealed four of the 10 emergency standards issued prior to the vaccine and test requirements. A fifth state of emergency has been partially cleared.
David Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University, told CNBC last week that there is a “high probability” of the case going to the Supreme Court, where there is a Conservative majority.
