November 19, 2021

Attorneys General Challenge Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers

Bernard Nash

Cozen O'Connor

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Cozen O'Connor

A group of ten AGs, led by Missouri AG Eric Schmitt and Nebraska AG Doug Peterson, sued the Biden administration over the legality and constitutionality of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule (“the Vaccine Mandate”).
The complaint alleges that the Vaccine Mandate is an unprecedented federal imposition on healthcare workers regardless of their employment status and across a wide range of healthcare facilities, and that it threatens to exacerbate shortages of an already depleted healthcare workforce.
The complaint argues that the Vaccine Mandate is arbitrary and capricious, exceeds the authority of the CMS, and was issued without the required consultations with state agencies or the required regulatory impact analysis. The complaint further argues that the Vaccine Mandate is a violation of the Tenth Amendment and federalism, among other things. The complaint therefore seeks preliminarily and permanently enjoining the imposition of the Vaccine Mandate, setting aside the Vaccine Mandate, and other declaratory relief.
A group of 12 Republican AGs, led by Louisiana AG Jeff Landry and Montana AG Austin Knudsen, also sued the Biden administration over the Vaccine Mandate, filing a substantially similar complaint to the one in the Missouri and Nebraska-led suit.

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