U.S. Senate overturns Biden mandate but House probably won't go along

A pair of moderate Democrats have joined the Republican minority in the U.S. Senate to approve a measure to overturn Pres. Joe Biden’s COVID-vaccine-or-test mandate for private employers of over 100 workers.

But the bill is unlikely to go anywhere in the Democratic-led House of Representatives. Biden has also promised to veto it.

The legislation would overturn administration rules ordering coronavirus vaccines or weekly testing for millions of employees. The measure was not subject to Senate rules that require 60 of its 100 members to agree on most legislation, meaning it could pass with just a 51-vote simple majority. Two Senate Democrats — Joe Manchin and Jon Tester — joined 50 Republicans in voting for the bill.

The Biden mandate has already been put on hold by a federal appeals court and a U.S. judge in Georgia also blocked a similar mandate aimed at federal contractors.