Supreme Court Vacates Decisions Challenging Biden’s Vaccine Requirements for Federal Employees

The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 11 vacated as moot decisions challenging President Joe Biden's vaccine requirement for federal employees. We've gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online and other media outlets.

Ruling Provides Clean Slate

Appeals courts reached opposite conclusions about whether federal employees could challenge the constitutionality of the requirement in court or first had to go through the Merit Systems Protection Board. The president then rescinded the executive order that established the requirement before the Supreme Court could rule on the cases.

The Supreme Court agreed with the Biden administration that the cases were now moot. The Supreme Court's ruling provides a clean legal slate for future vaccine requirements for federal employees.

(The Hill)

Prior COVID-19 Rulings

In a 2022 opinion, the Supreme Court blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) vaccine-or-testing rule for large employers—and OSHA withdrew that directive.

In a separate opinion, the Supreme Court allowed the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to require COVID-19 vaccination for health care workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers.

(SHRM Online)

Reason for Rescission of Mandates for Federal Workers

In rescinding the federal employee vaccine mandate in May, the Biden administration cited a steep decline in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations.

"Our COVID-19 vaccine requirements bolstered vaccination across the nation, and our broader vaccination campaign has saved millions of lives," the White House said in a statement at the time. "While vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces, we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary."

The vaccine mandate for US troops was rescinded by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in January after Biden signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which required its dismissal.

(CNN)

Open Question

The vacated cases are Payne v. Biden, Biden v. Feds for Medical Freedom and Kendall v. Doster.

Feds for Medical Freedom, the lead plaintiff in the 5th Circuit case and a group whose members are federal government and contractor employees from various agencies, argued in the fall that its victory in the lower court should be left alone as a "warning to the future" against government overreach in times of emergency.

"We never got a definitive statement that the president of the United States lacks the authority to issue vaccine mandates applicable to his own employees," said James Hodge, an Arizona State University public-health law professor in Phoenix.

(Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal)