Missouri and nine other states sued the federal government to try to block the vaccine requirement. The preliminary injunction by St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp applies to a coalition of suing states that includes Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Similar lawsuits also are pending in other states. The court order against the health care vaccine mandate comes after the Biden administration suffered a similar setback for a broader policy.
The federal judge on Monday blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a coronavirus vaccine mandate on thousands of health care workers in 10 states that had brought the first legal challenge against the requirement. The judge in the health care provider case wrote that federal officials likely overstepped their legal powers.
“What the court said today was that the Biden administration has no authority, there’s no statutory authority for them to do this – none whatsoever.” “If you talk to the men and women in the health care field, who by the way a year ago were being honored as heroes and are threatened to be put on the unemployment line, they welcome this news.” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said during a press conference.
General Eric Schmitt adding, Even under an exceedingly broad interpretation of federal powers, “Congress did not clearly authorize CMS to enact the politically and economically vast, federalism-altering, and boundary-pushing mandate.”Schmitt said he expects the Department of Justice to appeal the ruling and expects this case to go to the Supreme Court.
