States file lawsuit against Biden admin to halt vaccine mandate for federal contractors

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A coalition of more than ten U.S. attorneys general announced a lawsuit against the Biden administration in an attempt to halt COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal contractors and federally contracted employees.

The lawsuit, led by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, argues that the mandate goes against the Procurement Act, citing twelve counts of violations.

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“Far from increasing economy and efficiency in procurement, the contractor vaccine mandate will have deleterious effects on economy and inefficiency by causing the large-scale resignations of unvaccinated employees of federal contractors,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also claims that the mandate imposed on federal workers through Executive Order 14042 from President Biden is unconstitutional.

“Defendants, through their vaccine mandate, have exercised power far beyond what was delegated to the federal government by constitutional mandate or congressional action,” the suit states. “Neither Article II of the U.S. Constitution nor any act of Congress authorizes defendants to implement their vaccine mandate. The power to impose vaccine mandates, to the extent that any such power exists, is a power reserved to the States.”

“We’re leading the nation in fighting back against this absurd federal overreach,” Schmitt said in a statement. “According to the U.S. Department of Labor, workers who are employed by a federal contractor make up one-fifth of the entire labor market. 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.”

The lawsuit requests that the court declare the vaccine mandate unlawful and urges the defendants against enforcing it.

States that have joined the lawsuit include Missouri, Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.