More than a dozen governors and two attorneys general late on Sept. 9 issued statements defying the Biden administration’s impending vaccine mandates for federal workers and private-sector workers.
President Joe Biden earlier in the day signed an executive order to require all federal workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. There would be no option to opt out via COVID-19 testing. The mandate also applies to government contractors and their employees.
The president later announced he would direct the Department of Labor to create a rule to have companies with over 100 employees mandate vaccinations or weekly testing, a move that affects more than 80 million workers in the private sector.
At least 19 governors and two attorneys general immediately issued statements disagreeing with the administration’s move, with several vowing to defy it.
They include the governors of Arizona, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. All are Republicans.
They were joined by at least two state attorneys general, both Republicans, as of that night—Sean Reyes from Utah and Todd Rokita from Indiana.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the chair of the National Governors Association, said in a statement: “I fully support continued efforts to increase vaccination rates across our nation, but the federal government mandates on private businesses are not the right answer.
“I have been consistent in freedom of businesses to require their employees to be vaccinated, and I have opposed the government from saying businesses cannot exercise that freedom. The same principle should protect the private sector from government overreach that requires them to vaccinate all employees.”
Multiple Republican governors, including for Arizona, Georgia, and South Dakota, hinted or announced that they would seek legal avenues to resist the mandates.
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