patrick.net

March 2, 2022.

Senate Republicans on Wednesday voted to strike down President Biden’s vaccine mandate targeting health care workers, in a rebuke of the administration.

Senators voted 49-44 approving the GOP effort to nix the rule — a vote they were able to force under the Congressional Review Act.

Though no Democratic senators voted with Republicans to nix the rule, GOP senators were able to get it through the Senate because of Democratic absences. Six Democratic senators missed the vote.

But the effort to nix the rule is facing headwinds. The CRA sets up a fast track process in the Senate, but it does not green-light the same procedure in the House.

If it made it to Biden’s desk, Democrats expect that he would veto it.

“If it passes this won’t go anywhere in the House and President Biden would veto it,” a Senate Democratic aide said.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it cited 69 American hospitals for failing to comply with the Biden administration’s mandate that federally-funded healthcare facilities require their employees to submit to COVID-19 vaccination.

Last September, President Joe Biden directed the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) to draft a vaccine mandate for around 17 million healthcare workers at medical facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding, without an option for workers to submit to regular COVID testing instead.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked one of the administration’s other mandates, which applied to private employers with 100 or more workers, but allowed the health facility mandate to stand.

A Texas appeals court dissolved the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal employees.

On Monday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved their previous decision after rehearing the Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden case.

The vaccine mandate for federal employees will remain blocked at least until a September court hearing.