Reyes responds to Supreme Court ruling in vaccine mandate cases

Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes had a mixed reaction to the United States Supreme Court rulings on federal vaccine mandates for large businesses and healthcare workers.

In its decisions, the justices ruled to uphold the stay on the OSHA mandate, affecting businesses with more than 100 employees, but rejected the stay in the Centers for Medicare Services (CMS) case involving healthcare workers. The ruling means that employers will be prevented from having to force employees to be vaccinated, while healthcare workers will face a new deadline to comply with the mandate.

“The Supreme Court’s rejection of the OSHA mandate is a true victory for all Americans who believe in the rule of law,” said Reyes. “There is no workaround when it comes to the Constitution — the federal government cannot dictate its policies where it lacks statutory authority. These liberties are not negotiable.”

“We are extremely disappointed, however, in the court’s decision involving healthcare workers,” Reyes continued. “As the four dissenting justices correctly note, a ‘hodgepodge’ of statutes does not authorize the secretary to force healthcare workers to undergo a medical procedure. And we share the dissenting justices’ concern that this decision will have a lasting negative impact on future agency decision-making.”

“I want to thank all of our sister states who joined us in this fight. Due to the hard work of A.G. offices around the country, business owners and millions of their employees, for now, are protected from unprecedented executive overreach. We sympathize with medical workers who deserve to also be protected but will not be after today,” Reyes concluded.