The Biden administration has asked a federal appeals court to lift a court-ordered stay on the president’s sweeping COVID-19 mandate. The stay was ordered in response to a lawsuit filed by several Republican-led states, including Utah, along with businesses and trade groups. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued the stay to the order and called it “staggeringly overbroad” and a “one-size-fits-all sledgehammer.”
The White House asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati for the rule to be reinstated immediately, but that is unlikely to happen. The court set a briefing schedule that runs through Dec. 10. After the initial stay was imposed, lawsuits from across the country were consolidated and transferred to the 6th Circuit.
In September, Biden announced his intent to require all businesses with 100 employees or more, covering tens of millions of Americans, to require their workers to be vaccinated or wear masks and submit to weekly testing. On Nov. 5, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the ruling in the form of an “emergency temporary standard,” setting a Jan. 5 deadline for qualifying businesses to comply.
