Florida Sues Biden Administration Over Contractor Vaccine Mandate
Florida Sues Biden Administration Over Contractor Vaccine Mandate
(Bloomberg) -- Florida sued the Biden administration over vaccine mandates for federal contractors, the latest in a wave of Republican pushback against the president’s orders to fight the pandemic.
In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Tampa, the state called vaccination requirements for government contractors a “radical intrusion on the personal autonomy of American workers.” It alleges that the administration issued the mandate based on a law that doesn’t give it such power.
Among the defendants is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, which has a large presence in the state through the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. Florida is seeking an injunction against enforcement of President Joe Biden’s executive order.
The White House had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has resisted vaccine and mask mandates, framing the issue as one of personal freedom and not opposing vaccination itself as a public health measure. Still, his events have occasionally involved disinformation about the inoculations, which dramatically cut the risk of hospitalization and death from Covid-19.
Speaking Thursday from Lakeland, the governor said he expected to announce dates soon for a special session of the Florida legislature next month to block employer vaccine mandates for the private sector. Separate legislation has already targeted “vaccine passports” for consumers.
“In the state of Florida, you have a right to earn a living, and that should not be denied to you based on these shots,” DeSantis said, standing next to the state’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, who filed the lawsuit.
Separately, 20 attorneys general sent a letter to Biden expressing “grave concerns” over the vaccine mandate, saying it stands on “shaky legal ground” and is ambiguous and inconsistent with other virus measures. Plus, they wrote, “implementing the mandate now, in the middle of a supply-chain crisis, could have disastrous consequences in light of the approaching holiday season.”
The case is State of Florida v. Bill Nelson et al., 21-cv-2524, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida (Tampa).
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