Senate Republicans are going to attempt to get rid of President Joe Biden’s most recent coronavirus vaccine mandate, Fox News reports.
The outlet reports that the Senate Republicans are going to try to do so using the Congressional Review Act, which is a process that Congress can use to eliminate a rule put forth by the executive branch.
The effort is being led by Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN). The remaining 49 Senate Republicans, however, have joined him.
Braun put out a statement on Wednesday saying:
President Biden’s vaccine mandate is an unconstitutional invasion of what should be a personal medical decision for every American and an affront to the rights of 80 million American workers. Today, my Republican colleagues and I will formally challenge this federal overreach, and I urge the Senate to vote in favor of this disapproval resolution when it comes to the Floor for a filibuster-proof, simple-majority vote in early December.”
Background
The Senate Republicans’ challenge of Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandate comes after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced a rule implementing that mandate.
Under OSHA’s rule, all employers with 100 or more employees have to either force their employees to get vaccinated or to under regular coronavirus testing by January 4th. Those who fail to comply are being threatened with fines in excess of $10,000.
Senate Republicans had, previously, suggested that they would try to invoke the Congressional Review Act upon the implementation of Biden’s vaccine mandate. And, now they are doing just that.
Will they succeed?
The answer to this question remains unclear.
Fox details the Congressional Review Act process, writing:
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) can be used by Congress to overturn certain federal agency regulations and actions through a joint resolution of disapproval. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto, the rule at issue is invalidated.
What this means is that the Senate Republicans will need the support of at least one Senate Democrat for their effort to succeed. Thus far, no Senate Democrat has given that support, and it is unclear whether any will.
Other fronts
The good news is that the Senate Republicans’ effort is only part of a much larger Republican-led challenge of Biden’s vaccine mandate. As part of this effort, the Republican attorneys general of over two dozen states have taken the Biden administration to court, and they have already received a preliminary victory.
As a result of that victory, the Biden administration now has to halt enforcement of the vaccine mandate while litigation determining its legality is ongoing. Some Republican state attorneys general are looking to make this preliminary victory permanent.
The post 50 GOP senators team up to take Pres. Biden’s COVID vax mandate down first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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