Jan. 25, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning responding to the Department of Labor’s decision to withdraw the OSHA emergency temporary standard rule requiring employers with 100 or more employees to require Covid vaccines, and replacing it with a proposed rule instead:
“OSHA’s announcement that they’re dropping the emergency regulation that requires employers with 100 or more employees to fire unvaccinated employees is little more than a shell game. What OSHA’s really dropping is the emergency designation while promising the same regulation through normal regulatory channels, including public comment periods. This demonstrates incredible hubris by the Biden Labor Department as the Supreme Court injunction against the OSHA vaccine mandate was built around the lack of Congressional authorization for their action. Nothing has changed. Congress still has not OSHA authorized to act, therefore OSHA still lacks authority to even propose the rule, and they know it.
“The Supreme Court should still finish the job by definitively stopping OSHA from moving forward with any regulation on this subject matter. The Commerce Clause, which OSHA is authorized under, does not allow for vaccine mandates, and OSHA has never had authority to compel employers to fire employees. OSHA’s job is to determine if somebody stacked boxes in the emergency exit, not to determine who gets to hold a job and who doesn’t, and the Court should remind them of that fact.”
For media availability contact Catherine Mortensen at 703.478.4643 or cmortensen@getliberty.org.
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