States sue Biden on vaccine mandate

COLUMBIA, Missouri－Eighteen US states have filed three separate lawsuits to stop President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, arguing that the requirement violates federal law.

Attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming signed on to one lawsuit, which was filed in a federal-district court in Missouri. Another group of states, including Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia, filed a lawsuit in a federal district court in Georgia on Friday.

Texas also sued individually on Friday in a federal-district court, seeking to block enforcement of the mandate.

Florida sued on Thursday, bringing the number of states challenging the Biden administration mandate to 19 in four federal courts.

The states asked a federal judge to block Biden's mandate of requiring all employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus by Dec 8, arguing that it violates federal procurement law and is an overreach of federal power.

"If the federal government attempts to unconstitutionally exert its will and force federal contractors to mandate vaccinations, the workforce and businesses could be decimated, further exacerbating the supply chain and workforce crises," said Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. "The federal government should not be mandating vaccinations, and that's why we filed suit today－to halt this illegal, unconstitutional action."

Biden has argued that sweeping vaccine mandates will help end the pandemic, but Republicans have opposed the vaccination requirements and have threatened to bring similar legal challenges.

A number of states have also said they will challenge Biden's plan to have the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration issue a rule that would mandate vaccines for all private businesses with 100 or more employees.

The states argue that many federal contract workers will quit, meaning states will have to choose between breaching the contracts because of a reduced labor force that cannot do all the work, or breaching contracts by retaining unvaccinated employees in violation of federal rules.

The Democratic Party of Georgia called the lawsuit a "dangerous political stunt".

All but two of the states that have sued trail the national average in vaccination rate. Only New Hampshire and Florida exceed the nationwide rate.

Agencies via Xinhua