Supreme Court to Hear Challenges to Biden’s OSHA, Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandates

The Supreme Court announced late Wednesday that it will hear oral arguments in appeals against President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates for businesses with 100-plus employees and for healthcare workers.

The justices will hear both cases on January 7, just days after the deadlines for the mandates go into effect on January 4. Both orders are only a few sentences and do not specify whether the Court will decide both cases in their entirety or if the judges will instead decide to stay the mandates while litigation continues.

Out of Biden’s five federal coronavirus vaccine mandates, the mandate for large businesses, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), is the largest and impacts 84 million workers. Biden’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate for healthcare workers covers approximately 10.4 million people with an additional 2.7 million individuals who will be covered once hired. The OSHA mandate allows for a testing option for unvaccinated employees, whereas healthcare workers can either qualify for a religious or medical exemption or face firing.