A federal district court judge in Florida issued Wednesday a temporary injunction against the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate for federal contractors, The Daily Wire reported Sunday.
“The extent of any absenteeism attributable to COVID-19 among contractors and subcontractors is unexplained,” Judge Steven Merryday of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida wrote in a 38-page decision.
“The frequency and duration of any procurement delay attributable to COVID-19 is unexplained,” Merryday added.
In November, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed bills against federal vaccine mandates.
The latest decision came weeks after a U.S. district court in Georgia decided to prohibit the federal government from implementing its federal contractor vaccine mandate across the country.
In September, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance stating that covered contractor employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than Dec. 8, in compliance with a Sept. 9 executive order. In November, the White House moved to Jan. 4 the deadline for the vaccination requirement.
Reuters reported that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Jan. 7 on the U.S. government’s COVID-19 vaccine or testing mandate for large companies and a separate requirement that directs health care workers at facilities treating Medicare and Medicaid patients to get vaccinated against the virus.
The workplace mandate covering about 80 million U.S. workers is in effect across the country, while the vaccine requirement for health personnel is blocked in 25 of the 50 U.S. states, according to the report.
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said the Biden administration is confident in the two vaccine mandates’ legal authority and that the Department of Justice will “will vigorously defend both at the Supreme Court.”
