Supreme Court conservatives sound skeptical of Biden’s Covid vaccine-or-test rules

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Friday sounded skeptical of the Biden administration’s sweeping Covid vaccination-or-testing requirements for private businesses.

The justices questioned the Labor Department’s health rules, as well as a federal vaccine mandate for health-care workers, during oral arguments that were ongoing after nearly three hours.

The arguments, which started at 10 a.m. ET, kicked off with a lawyer for a national small-business group arguing against the private-business rules, which would apply to tens of millions of workers.

The arguments concluded four hours later. The court is set to reconvene at 10 a.m. Monday.

The Biden administration has postponed enforcement of the vaccine and testing requirements until Feb. 9. The rest of the mandate, which includes masking for unvaccinated workers, is set to go into effect on Monday.

National Federation of Independent Business attorney Scott Keller was grilled by the court’s three liberal justices, who at times sounded incredulous about the proposal to halt the workplace health precautions while Covid cases surge to new heights.

Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts questioned Keller about why the Labor Department did not have the authority to regulate the “special workplace problem” posed by the pandemic.

But Roberts also expressed skepticism while questioning Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing for the Biden administration, about the federal government’s efforts.

“It seems to me that the government is trying to work across the waterfront,” he said.

Roberts is likely a must-have vote for the Biden administration’s rules to survive the high court’s 6-3 conservative majority.

Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, two of the three sitting justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, asked about the applicability of the “major questions doctrine,” which would require Congress to weigh in on matters of such significance.

Justice Samuel Alito, a reliable conservative vote, pushed Prelogar on the question of whether the vaccines pose a health risk, even as he stressed that he was not disputing that the Covid shots have been deemed safe and effective.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/07/supreme-court-hears-challenges-to-biden-vaccine-mandates.html