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 Biden voiced disappointment with the conservative-majority court's
decision to halt his administration's rule requiring vaccines or
weekly COVID-19 tests for employees at businesses with at least 100
employees. Biden said it now is up to states and employers to decide
whether to require workers "to take the simple and effective step of
getting vaccinated."
The court was divided in both cases, centering on pandemic-related
federal regulations at a time of escalating coronavirus infections
driven by the Omicron variant in a nation that leads the world with
more than 845,000 COVID-19 deaths.
It ruled 6-3, with the six conservative justices in the majority and
three liberal justices dissenting, in blocking the rule involving
large businesses - a policy that applied to more than 80 million
employees. The court's majority downplayed the risk COVID-19
specifically poses in the workplace, comparing it instead to
"day-to-day" crime and pollution hazards that individuals face
everywhere.
The vote was 5-4 to allow the healthcare worker rule, which requires
vaccination for about 10.3 million workers at 76,000 healthcare
facilities including hospitals and nursing homes that accept money
from the Medicare and Medicaid government health insurance programs
for elderly, disabled and low-income Americans. Two conservatives,
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined the
liberals in the majority in that case.
In a statement, Biden said the court's decision allowing the
healthcare worker mandate "will save lives" and his administration
will enforce it. Workers must be vaccinated by the end of February.
The court heard arguments last Friday in the legal fight over
temporary mandates issued in November by two federal agencies aimed
at increasing U.S. vaccination rates and making workplaces and
healthcare settings safer. The cases tested presidential powers to
address a swelling public health crisis.
In an unsigned ruling, the court said the rule affecting large
businesses, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), was not an ordinary use of federal power.
"It is instead a significant encroachment on the lives - and health
- of a vast number of employees," the court said.
"Permitting OSHA to regulate the hazards of daily life -simply
because most Americans have jobs and face those same risks while on
the clock - would significantly expand OSHA's regulatory authority
without clear congressional authorization," the court added.
Challengers led by the state of Ohio and the National Federation of
Independent Business (NFIB), which represents employers, asked the
justices to block OSHA's rule after a lower court lifted an
injunction against it. Companies were supposed to start showing they
were in compliance starting this past Monday.
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 In dissent, Justice Stephen
Breyer wrote on behalf of the liberal justices
that the decision "stymies the federal
government's ability to counter the unparalleled
threat that COVID-19 poses to our nation's
workers."
'WELCOME RELIEF'
"Today's decision is welcome relief for
America's small businesses, who are still trying
to get their business back on track since the
beginning of the pandemic," said Karen Harned,
executive director of the NFIB's legal arm.
The high court blocked a Dec. 17 decision by the
Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals that had allowed the mandate to go into
effect. In the healthcare
facilities case, the court's differently comprised majority
concluded that the regulation "fits neatly" within the power
Congress conferred on the government to impose conditions on
Medicaid and Medicare funds, which includes policies that protect
health and safety.
"After all, ensuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting
a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the
fundamental principle of the medical profession: first, do no harm,"
the court said.
Four conservative justices dissented from the healthcare facility
decision, concluding that Congress had not given the federal agency
the authority to require vaccinations for millions of healthcare
workers. In one dissent, Justice Samuel Alito doubted that the
agency can "put more than 10 million healthcare workers to the
choice of their jobs or an irreversible medical treatment."
The justices lifted orders by federal judges in Missouri and
Louisiana blocking the policy in 24 states, allowing the
administration to enforce it nearly nationwide. Enforcement was
blocked in Texas by a lower court in separate litigation not at
issue before the Supreme Court.
Gerald Harmon, president of the American Medical Association
physicians group, said that although he is pleased the court allowed
the healthcare worker mandate, the broader workplace rule is also
needed.
"Workplace transmission has been a major factor in the spread of
COVID-19," Harmon added. "Now more than ever, workers in all
settings across the country need commonsense, evidence-based
protections against COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death."
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung; Additional reporting
by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Will Dunham)
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