On Thursday, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis filed a lawsuit challenging OSHA’s extraordinary temporary standards (ETS). These standards impose COVID vaccination requirements and obligatory testing on private enterprises with more than 100 employees.
DeSantis is Quick to Respond
The Florida governor followed through on his pledge to “quickly” fight President Biden’s OSHA regulation, announcing the legal action the same day the rule was released.
“We began with fifteen days to limit the spread over a year and a half earlier, and now it’s get injected or leave your job,” DeSantis said at a media briefing in Tallahassee, Florida.
“We’re meant to be a society of law, not a society of men,” DeSantis said of the nearly 500-page OSHA rule.
“This is 500 papers of an administration of a bureaucracy — a system that is administered by executive order, not by traditional constitutional processes, and the Sunshine State is going to reply,” he said.
"I don't want to lose my job. I don't want to stop providing for my mother and our family at the house." – TJ McCormick, Owner, FL TJ Inc. pic.twitter.com/9TZIMa4AvX
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) November 2, 2021
“We’ll also fight the OSHA rule. As quickly as it’s released, Florida will file a lawsuit alongside Georgia and Alabama, and also private individuals,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said.
“This is a regulation that is inconsistent with the Constitution and was not lawfully established through legislative provisions,” DeSantis said, noting the federal government “cannot simply impose health policy under the cover of workplace regulation.”
“And that’s precisely what they’re attempting here,” DeSantis explained. “This is an effort to ram policies through the government in a way that some of these individuals or private parties will find difficult to oppose.”
On Thursday, OSHA issued a regulation requiring employers with more than 100 workers to implement immunization and testing standards. It takes effect on January 4th. Those who do not follow the rules will be fined $14,000 for each infringement at first.
Texas Joins the Fight
#BREAKING #Texas Attorney General @KenPaxtonTX announces he’s suing the Biden administration over its Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Paxton: “The Biden Administration’s new vaccine mandate on private businesses is a breathtaking abuse of federal power.” @CBSDFW pic.twitter.com/Tkde7u4wzz
— Jack Fink (@cbs11jack) November 5, 2021
Texas and a number of other states and businesses are appealing over what they call a ‘blatantly illegal’ vaccination mandate that will soon be enforced on some private firms.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has issued new regulations requiring enterprises with more than 100 participants to have their personnel immunized against COVID.
Those who opt-out of the vaccine must test negative for COVID at a minimum of once a week and also wear masks on the job. The requirement will go into effect on January 4th. Penalties of over $14,000 per infraction could be imposed for violations.
“The Biden regime’s new vaccine requirement for private firms is a heinous abuse of federal authority. OSHA is a small agency with limited authority and responsibility.”
“This latest step deviates significantly from those guidelines. This ‘standard’ is unlawful on its face. Here’s the bottom line: Biden’s new directive is terrible policy and bad law, and I’m asking the Supreme Court to overturn it,” said Texas GOP State Attorney Ken Paxton.
