30 pages. "Applicants are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the Secretary lacked authority to impose the mandate. Administrative agencies are creatures of statute. They accordingly possess only the authority that Congress has provided. The Secretary has ordered 84 million Americans to either obtain a COVID--19 vaccine or undergo weekly medical testing at their own expense. This is no 'everyday exercise of federal power.'... 

"The question, then, is whether the Act plainly authorizes the Secretary's mandate. It does not. The Act empowers the Secretary to set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures....

"That is not to say OSHA lacks authority to regulate occupation-specific risks related to COVID-19. Where the virus poses a special danger because of the particular features of an employee's job or workplace, targeted regulations are plainly permissible. We do not doubt, for example, that OSHA could regulate researchers who work with the COVID-19 virus. So too could OSHA regulate risks associated with working in particularly crowded or cramped environments. But the danger present in such workplaces differs in both degree and kind from the everyday risk of contracting COVID--19 that all face. OSHA's indiscriminate approach fails to account for this crucial distinction -- between occupational risk and risk more generally -- and accordingly the mandate takes on the character of a general public health measure, rather than an 'occupational safety or health standard.'...

"OSHA's COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard ... is stayed pending disposition of the applicants' petitions for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and disposition of the applicants' petitions for writs of certiorari, if such writs are timely sought. Should the petitions for writs of certiorari be denied, this order shall terminate automatically. In the event the petitions for writs of certiorari are granted, the order shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court."

[Nat'l Federation of Independent Businesses v. OSHA; Ohio v. OSHA, Nos. 21A244 and 21A247 (S. Ct. Jan. 13, 2022; per curiam opinion; Justice Gorsuch concurs; Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan dissent)]  MORE >>

23 pages. "[We] agree with the Government that the Secretary's rule falls within the authorities that Congress has conferred upon him.... The Secretary of [HHS] determined that a COVID-19 vaccine mandate will substantially reduce the likelihood that healthcare workers will contract the virus and transmit it to their patients.... He accordingly concluded that a vaccine mandate is 'necessary to promote and protect patient health and safety' in the face of the ongoing pandemic.... The rule thus fits neatly within the language of the statute....

"We accordingly conclude that the Secretary did not exceed his statutory authority in requiring that, in order to remain eligible for Medicare and Medicaid dollars, the facilities covered by the interim rule must ensure that their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19....

"The District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri's November 29, 2021, order granting a preliminary injunction is stayed pending disposition of the Government's appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the disposition of the Government's petition for a writ of certiorari, if such writ is timely sought. Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this order shall terminate automatically. In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the order shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court.

"The District Court for the Western District of Louisiana's November 30, 2021, order granting a preliminary injunction is stayed pending disposition of the Government's appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the disposition of the Government's petition for a writ of certiorari, if such writ is timely sought. Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this order shall terminate automatically. In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the order shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court."

[Biden v. Missouri; Becerra v. Louisiana, Nos. 21A240 and 21A241 (S. Ct. Jan. 13, 2022; per curium; Justices Thomas and Alito separately dissent)]

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