Attorneys general in 10 states join fight against Biden’s vaccine mandate

Ten attorneys general from states with Republican governors have joined the fight to oppose the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors, calling it “unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise.”

The lawsuit filed by the attorneys general from the states of Missouri, Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming called a vaccine mandate issued by the Biden administration that requires federal contractors to get the COVID-19 shot by Dec. 8 a “power grab.”

The lawsuit claims that the requirement is an illegal usurpation of state police powers, violates the 10th Amendment, and is “inconsistent” with procurement law, among other things.

“The federal government should not be mandating vaccinations, and that’s why we filed suit today – to halt this illegal, unconstitutional action,” he added.

“The ramifications of the federal contractor vaccine mandate are significant,” Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson said in a statement. “It will impact countless employees, exacerbate existing workforce shortages, and create economic instability. Most importantly, it puts individual employees who happened to work for federal contractors out of a job if they simply make the personal choice not to be vaccinated.”

A White House official told McClatchy, responding to legal challenges waged by Missouri and Florida, that President Biden “has authority to protect the federal workforce and promote efficiency in federal contracting in this way,” arguing that the vaccine mandate does not violate federal procurement law.

Several other states have filed legal challenges to the federal contractor vaccine mandate, including Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Texas, and Florida.