On January 13, 2022 the Supreme Court blocked president Joe Biden from enforcing a sweeping vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies. The mandate required that workers at businesses with 100 or more employees get vaccinated or submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It also required unvaccinated workers to wear masks indoors at work
The rulings came three days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency measure for businesses started to take effect.
Liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that the majority has usurped the power of Congress, the president and OSHA without legal basis. “In the face of a still-raging pandemic, this Court tells the agency charged with protecting worker safety that it may not do so in all the workplaces needed,” they said in their dissent. “As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible. Without legal basis, the Court usurps a decision that rightfully belongs to others. It undercuts the capacity of the responsible federal officials, acting well within the scope of their authority, to protect American workers from grave danger,” they wrote.
President Joe Biden, in a statement, said the Supreme Court chose to block requirements that are life-saving for workers. Biden called on states and businesses to step up and voluntarily institute vaccination requirements to protect workers, customers and the broader community.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has decided it is time to get the hell out of dodge. He is retiring.