Florida Gov. DeSantis Vows Legal Action Against Biden Administration Over 'Illegal' Vax Mandates

© AP Photo / Wilfredo LeeFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a COVID-19 testing site, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. First responders and people over 65 years-old began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday during a trial run of the site which will open to seniors at a later date. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a COVID-19 testing site, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. First responders and people over 65 years-old began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday during a trial run of the site which will open to seniors at a later date. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.11.2021
Subscribe
The mandate announced on Thursday targets businesses with 100 or more workers and includes heavy fines for firms that fail to comply. The measure sets a 4 January deadline for workers to receive COVID-19 shots needed to be "fully vaccinated".
Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has pledged to launch a legal attack against the Biden administration over the new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private sector workers.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, DeSantis said that Florida would join Alabama, Georgia, and several other states in a preemptive legal challenge against the new mandate.
The governor added that his state would also quickly lodge a separate legal action against a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers at facilities that take payments from Medicare and Medicaid.

The 43-year old said that he "just" thinks that "people are so sick of constantly being bossed around, restricted, mandated, all these different things" and that "we [Florida] have had enough of it and we want people to be able to make their own decisions".

DeSantis described the mandates as "unconstitutional" and "illegal", pledging to use state taxpayer money to offset any possible fines assessed by federal authorities against businesses in Florida.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his Build Back Better infrastructure agenda at the NJ TRANSIT Meadowlands Maintenance Complex in Kearny, New Jersey, U.S., October 25, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 25.10.2021
New Biden Order Set to Lift Travel Restrictions, Impose New Vaccine Requirements in US
The governor also said he does not rule out the new mandates being just the beginning and that the Biden administration would eventually mandate that those previously inoculated get booster shots.
The lawsuits will be filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who also slammed the vaccine mandates and dubbed the Biden administration's actions "authoritarian".

"When this president grew angry and lost his patience and said that unvaccinated Americans were killing others he decided to violate the restriction of his powers through our constitution and impose his will", Moody said.

He spoke after the attorneys general of an array of US states, including Ohio, Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, and Kentucky, announced their intention to sue the Biden administration over the new COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

"President Biden's illegal mandate is an egregious overreach and sets the country down a dangerous path. Forcing these injections on Montanans at the threat of losing their jobs infringes on the rights of our state, individuals, and businesses. We've been preparing for this. I'll be filing a lawsuit tomorrow to stop this lawless order in its tracks", Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a statement on Thursday.

The mandates, which were released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) earlier on Thursday, require companies with 100 or more employees to require COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing and workplace masking. The measure sets a 4 January deadline for workers to receive the shots needed to be "fully vaccinated".
The U.S. Capitol is seen as Senate Democrats and Republicans sought to reach an agreement on to avert a debt crisis in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.10.2021
Biden Admin. Dodges Standard Regulatory Rulemaking to Rush Vaccine Mandate
A separate Biden administration mandate requires about 17 million healthcare workers across 76,000 hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities in the US to get fully immunised by 4 January.
In September, President Joe Biden announced that the United States was introducing compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 for all employees of federal agencies. He also pledged at the time to order OSHA to issue rules for private businesses with more than 100 employees to get vaccinated.
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала