Utah joins 23 states in threat to sue administration over COVID mandates

Utah has joined 23 other states in threatening legal action against the administration of Pres. Joe Biden over its COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes signed a joint letter to the president from the attorneys general of 24 states demanding the mandates be dropped.

In remarks earlier this month, Biden said there were 80 million Americans who hadn’t been vaccinated and that “many of us are frustrated with them” because of it. He has instructed the Occupational and Safety Administration to draft an emergency temporary order mandating that businesses of 100 employees or more be vaccinated or tested regularly. The president stated he is doing this because he has the federal authority to do so.

The attorneys general letter calls the mandates “disastrous and counterproductive” and even declares the action illegal. It further pans the mandates as a one-size-fits-all solution that fails to recognize “differences between employees that justify more nuanced treatment by employers.” It is not good policy, the letter states, but is rather “power for power’s sake.”

“I am committed to continuing leading with my colleagues to push back and fight this mandate all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary,” Reyes said in a press release. “Both employers and employees in Utah, with unprecedented fervor, have flooded my office with messages of dire concern and extreme opposition to the proposed mandate. I firmly agree.”

The letter also highlights concerns that threatening to fire people if they do not get the vaccine will not only serve to raise vaccine skepticism but also threaten to strain “an already-too-tight labor market, burdening companies and (therefore) threatening the jobs of even those who have received the vaccine.”

“As announced, the mandates are not tailored to real-world business realities such as telecommuting and threaten jobs when the workforce is most vulnerable financially,” Reyes said.

Utah was joined on the letter by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.