The Supreme Court is hearing two COVID-19 vaccine mandate cases today: one from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for large employers, and one from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for health-care workers at facilities that take federal funding.
The cases are important on their face, as the Omicron variant of the virus tears through the country. But the justices’ rulings could also have deeper repercussions, providing clues to how the Court will react to the administration’s exercise of agency power going forward. If they choose to drastically curtail that authority over time, it could deal a blow to the Biden presidency.
Cases:
- National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration plus Ohio v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Arguing for applicants: Scott Keller and Ohio Solicitor General Ben Flowers
- Arguing for respondents: United States Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar
- Biden v. Missouri plus Becerra v. Louisiana
- Arguing for applicants: United States Deputy Solicitor General Brian Fletcher
- Arguing for respondents: Missouri Deputy Attorney General Jesus Osete, Louisiana Solicitor General Elizabeth Murrill
Listen live here.
The Supreme Court is hearing two COVID-19 vaccine mandate cases today: one from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for large employers, and one from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for health-care workers at facilities that take federal funding.
The cases are important on their face, as the Omicron variant of the virus tears through the country. But the justices’ rulings could also have deeper repercussions, providing clues to how the Court will react to the administration’s exercise of agency power going forward. If they choose to drastically curtail that authority over time, it could deal a blow to the Biden presidency.
The SCJs, double vaxxed, boosted and masked in a courtroom off limits to the public will decide if public health mandates are Constitutional.
For anyone wondering why the administrative law argument matters in the big picture – not just covid – it’s because Congress routinely delegates rule-making authority to agencies. If you want to know why your drinking water isn’t filled with sewage and heavy metals, it’s because Congress passed the Clean Water Act that instructed the EPA to establish rules and requirements to prevent contaminants from poisoning drinking water.
But if you’re a purveyor of sewage and heavy metals, you fucking hate those administrative rules. They’re a real crimp in your business model. They cost you money. Who is the fucking unelected bureaucrat in the EPA who decided I can’t dump my heavy metal sewage in the river? Congress never said I couldn’t dump that shit!
So the right-wing fever dream of administrative law is that it’s all bogus because only Congress has the authority to legislate. This is, to be clear, insane. It’s a theory in which you can disregard all traffic signs on federal highways because Congress never authorized them to be placed in that particular location. But it’s what they want because big moneyed interests don’t want to have to abide by any regulatory authorities whatsoever. In this case, it’s the OSHA safety rule saying employees gotta be vaccinated. In the next case, it will be an EPA rule literally saying you can’t dump sewage in the river or sell leaded gasoline.
To paraphrase Jack Nicholson’s Joker in one of those Batman movies, “The Supreme Court needs an enema.”
Quick Summary:
Vaccine? Can’t tell me what to do with my body.
Abortion? Only governmental mandates apply.
It used to be perfectly legal before those pesky regulations!