Washington, December 23 (BUS): The Supreme Court said it will hold a special hearing in just two weeks to consider challenges to the Biden administration’s two policies covering vaccine requirements for millions of workers, and policies affecting large employers and health care workers.
The Supreme Court’s announcement, Wednesday, that it will hear arguments in the January 7 cases, comes amid the increasing number of coronavirus cases, a very fast timetable. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the court was not scheduled to hear the cases again until January 10.
A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled 2-1 Friday that a vaccine or testing regime for workers in large companies could go into effect. The plan requires that workers at major companies be vaccinated or wear face masks and get tested weekly. This requirement could affect approximately 84 million American workers.
The requirement was challenged by Republican-led states and conservative organizations and companies after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published the rule in early November. The rule was due to go into effect on January 4.
The Supreme Court will also hear arguments about the rule, published November 5 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which applies to a wide range of health care providers who receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funding. The law requires their workers to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by December 6 and to be fully vaccinated by January 4. It was expected to affect more than 17 million workers in about 76,000 health care facilities in addition to home health care providers.
Decisions by the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis as well as a Texas federal judge halted the mandate in about half of the states.
In a statement Wednesday evening after the court announced it would hear arguments, the White House defended its policies and said that especially with the emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, “it is critical to protect workers with vaccination requirements and testing of urgent protocols is essential.”
“We are confident that the legal authority of both the policies and (the Department of Justice) will vigorously defend both in the Supreme Court,” the statement said.
The Supreme Court’s decision to promptly argue the requirements was unusual. Both cases reached the court on an emergency basis, and the court usually decided quickly on emergency requests without the typical full briefing and oral arguments.
But the court has also been criticized recently for how it handled the process, which has been dubbed the court’s “shadow schedule.” Judge Samuel Alito last September pushed back against that criticism, saying it was unwarranted.
The Supreme Court announced earlier this year that all judges had been vaccinated. But due to the coronavirus, the court is not open to the public. Lawyers discussing cases must test negative for COVID-19, and journalists who monitor arguments must also have a negative test.
And fermentation in lower courts is also challenging the Biden administration’s requirements that federal contractors receive COVID-19 vaccines.
MI