Hours after the White House issues its new vaccine mandate, GOP-led states sue

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Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron speaks during a news conference on Sept., 23, 2020. Cameron and attorneys general for Ohio and Tennessee filed a lawsuit claiming the new federal vaccine mandate is government overreach.

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Timothy D. Easley/AP

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This lawsuit is just part of what is already panning out to be a mountain of legal challenges against this vaccine mandate. In September, when the White House first announced its plans, critics — largely the Republican party — promised to sue.

And they are keeping their word. Late Thursday, officials from dozens of states announced plans to file major lawsuits by Friday when the administration’s rule is officially published in the Federal Register.

Several Republican-led states are working together in these legal challenges. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is a Democrat, but the lawsuit the state is pursuing is being led by Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is Republican.

A lawsuit Georgian officials say they plan to file also includes South Carolina, West Virginia, Utah, Idaho, Alabama and Kansas. Another suit that Missouri officials plan to file on Friday also reportedly includes Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Indiana will challenge the rules in three separate lawsuits in the coming week, according to the state’s attorney general.

Texas also sued individually last Friday. «The Biden Administration has repeatedly expressed its disdain for Americans who choose not to get a vaccine, and it has committed repeated and abusive federal overreach to force upon Americans something they do not want,» Attorney General Paxton said.

States say the mandate could mean big revenue loss

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told All Things Considered Thursday that the administration is well-prepared for the onslaught of lawsuits.

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The Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington, D.C. in a photo from 2013. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told NPR that the Biden administration is prepared to fight the lawsuits against the federal vaccine mandate.

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 20, 2020.

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 20, 2020.

Julie Carr Smyth/AP

Also at the core of these legal challenges is the argument that the federal government is over reaching its authority on states’ rights. The argument in the Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio case says that Congress did not give the president authority to issue such a broad mandate.

Labor Secretary Walsh said this rule overrides state and local laws banning or limiting employers’ ability to mandate vaccines or testing. He told All Things Considered in part, «It’s no different than a law in Texas that would supersede a local law.»

State officials such as Ohio’s Yost said Thursday the rules violate the Constitution.

«I’ve said it many times: The Biden administration may not do whatever it wants however it wants,» Yost said. «The Constitution lays out critical rules by which the executive branch must operate. Congress and the states have their own powers, which the administration can’t just take over because it wants to.»