Court Upholds Block of Federal Worker Vaccine Requirement

Joe Biden’s executive order of Sept. 9, 2021, which was set to take effect on Nov. 22, 2021 has been successfully blocked for three months.

On Feb. 9, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s injunction on Biden’s vaccine requirement for federal workers. The court’s vote was 2-1. The injunction was initially issued on Jan. 21 by District Court Judge Jeffrey Brown, one of President Donald J. Trump’s appointees.

Biden was attempting to force federal employees to be fully vaccinated, unless they had an approved religious or medical exemption. If an employee did not receive a vaccine or an approved exemption, they could face disciplinary action or have their employment terminated.

This ruling follows several others surrounding the Biden administration’s vaccine policies. The current White House resident’s vaccine requirement for federal workers has been suspended by a federal court injunction since December 2021.

In January, the United States Supreme Court reinstated a stay on Biden’s vaccine requirement for companies with more than 100 employees.

The Supreme Court also lifted an injunction on Biden’s vaccine requirement for healthcare workers at facilities that participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs.