On Nov. 30, a Kentucky federal court halted the order issued by the Biden administration that mandates vaccines for federal contractors and their subcontractors, according to Bloomberg Law.
Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee sued the Biden administration, arguing the mandate for companies that do business with the U.S. government violated the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Court Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky said the president likely cannot use congressionally delegated authority to manage the federal procurement of goods and services to impose vaccines and granted a preliminary injunction against the order for the three states.
Biden’s mandate, which applies to roughly a quarter of the U.S. workforce, led to a series of federal lawsuits from states seeking to block implementation, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas. The states argued the administration lacks the authority to require vaccinations and the mandates violate the U.S. Constitution.
Van Tatenhove’s order said Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee have about $9 billion, $10 billion and $12 billion in government contracts, respectively, and contractors that refuse to comply risk being blacklisted by the government. He said the mandate amounted to overreach in contracts.
In the order granting the preliminary injunction, Van Tatenhove also noted: “This is not a case about whether vaccines are effective. They are. Nor is this a case about whether the government, at some level, and in some circumstances, can require citizens to obtain vaccines. It can. The question presented here is narrow. Can the president use congressionally delegated authority to manage the federal procurement of goods and services to impose vaccines on the employees of federal contractors and subcontractors? In all likelihood, the answer to that question is no.”
Further litigation of the case is expected.
