OSHA vaccine mandate: Biden administration defends rule's legality ahead of expected lawsuits
Rule is expected to be challenged by a number of states
The Biden administration is defending the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying it is "well within" the agency's "broad authority" under the law.
The OSHA rule, an emergency temporary standard, requires businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate that their workers are either fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, or subject to weekly testing and mask wearing. Fully vaccinated means that the employee has received two doses of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech's shots, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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The rule also requires that employers provide paid time for employees to get vaccinated, and mandates that all unvaccinated employees wear a face mask in the workplace.
A voter exits a Jackson, Mississippi, precinct that posted signs reminding voters of rules about firearms and masks on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis / AP Newsroom)
Businesses that fail to comply could face fines reaching as much as $14,000 per violation, with the potential for multiple citations per business.
The rule is expected to be challenged by a number of states, and is already being formally challenged by nearly the entire Republican caucus in the Senate.
A senior administration official defended the rule, explaining that the Occupational Safety and Health Act gives OSHA "the authority to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them."
"A virus that has killed more than 745,000 Americans, with more than 70,000 new cases per day currently, is clearly a health hazard that poses a grave threat to workers," the official said.
"There is well-established legal precedent for OSHA’s authority to evaluate existing scientific evidence and apply data to develop safety and health standards," the official continued.
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Meanwhile, the rule will "preempt any inconsistent state or local laws, including laws that ban or limit an employer’s authority to require vaccination, masks or testing."
Protesters gather at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines on Thursday Oct. 28, 2021, to push for a bill that would prohibit vaccine mandates from being imposed on employees. (AP Photo/David Pitt / AP Newsroom)
"The standard preempts states, and political subdivisions of states, from adopting and enforcing workplace requirements relating to these issues, except under the authority of a federally approved state plan," the official explained.
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The rule is set to impact roughly 84 million employees; 70% of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated, according to the administration.
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"Our mission is to make sure that workers come home safe at the end of their shift," the official said. "OSHA will never hesitate to use its authority to keep workers safe on the job."