WASHINGTON, December 1 - The White House said on Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice will vigorously defend the government's authority to promote its vaccine requirement in federal contracting after courts blocked the Biden administration from enforcing two vaccine mandates.
A U.S. District Judge in Louisiana temporarily blocked the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services CMS from enforcing its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. A U.S. district judge in Kentucky blocked the administration from enforcing a regulation that new government contracts must include clauses requiring contractors' employees to be vaccinated.
The legal setbacks added to the legal losses for the Biden administration over its COVID 19 policies. They came after concerns that the Omicron coronaviruses variant could cause a new wave of infections and curtail travel and economic activity around the globe.
The administration's workplace vaccine-or- testing mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees was temporarily blocked by a federal appeals court in early November.
We know vaccine requirements work. A White House spokeswoman told Reuters on Wednesday that the government's authority to promote the economy and efficiency in federal contracting through its vaccine requirement and the Department of Justice will vigorously defend it in court.
Biden introduced regulations in September to increase the U.S. adult vaccine rate beyond the current 71% as a way of fighting the epidemic, which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and has weighed on the economy.