Missouri AG Schmitt announces lawsuit ahead of Biden administration vaccine rule

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Thursday announced a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s administration over the expected COVID-19 vaccination rule for a large swath of private employers, ahead of the rule’s official publication in the federal register Friday.

“We will be on file first thing tomorrow morning to halt this illegal, unconstitutional attempt by the Biden Administration and the federal government to impose their will on thousands of Missouri businesses and millions of Missourians,” he said. “Missouri will not roll over, we will not back down – we will file suit imminently.”

Schmitt has vowed for weeks to sue over the rule. The announcement a day ahead of its publication in the federal register allows Schmitt, who is running for U.S Senate, to claim the mantle of spearheading opposition to the mandate, which Republican officials nationwide have lined up to try to stop.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and several other Republican state officials said Thursday they also intend to challenge the rule. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is running for governor, also said on Twitter that his lawsuit would come “soon.”

This Missouri lawsuit will be filed a week after Schmitt and nine other states’ attorneys general sued the Biden administration over a vaccine requirement for federal contractors, which came a day after Florida launched its own challenge. Gov. Mike Parson last week ordered executive branch state agencies to cooperate with any litigation by Schmitt to challenge the federal requirements.

The deadline to get vaccinated under the federal contractor rule was extended Thursday from early December to Jan. 4, the same date as the new private business rule.

Schmitt on Thursday said the Biden administration could not “unilaterally force private employers to mandate their employees get vaccinated or foot the bill for weekly testing.”

But the Biden administration said it is “pretty confident” the rule can withstand legal challenges, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.

“The question that we always have, that we ask for the Republicans, is why are you getting in the way?” she said. “Why are they getting in the way of trying to protect and save lives?”

In a Wednesday evening call with reporters, senior administration officials defended their legal authority, pointing to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s ability to impose workplace rules against other diseases and health hazards.

“There is well-established legal precedent for OSHA’s authority to evaluate existing scientific evidence and apply data to develop safety and health standards,” one official said.

The new rule being issued Friday applies to private businesses with 100 or more employees, affecting an estimated 84 million workers nationwide. It requires employers to ensure workers are vaccinated against COVID by Jan. 4 or produce a weekly negative test, pay them for time off to get vaccinated and require masks for unvaccinated workers.

But it will allow businesses to shift the cost of testing onto workers, which could potentially spur more to choose getting the shot. Medical and religious exemptions will be allowed, Biden administration officials said Wednesday.

In Missouri, it will not apply to government employees.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also will issue a rule requiring any health care provider such as hospitals and clinics that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds to mandate vaccines for their employees.

OSHA will enforce its rule by receiving complaints about businesses not complying or conducting inspections, and penalize businesses with standard workplace safety violation fines of close to $14,000 each, according to the Biden administration.

Business and health care provider groups in Missouri, including the state’s Chamber of Commerce, strenuously opposed the rule to state lawmakers this year, saying they feared a mass exodus of employees during an already rocky labor market.

On Thursday, the state chamber, which has been promoting vaccines, released a statement warning the rule would interfere with its own efforts to work with businesses to establish their own vaccination policies.

“In contrast with the Biden Administration’s approach, we believe the federal government should instead cooperate with the employer community to encourage vaccination and support employers that exercise their legal right to require vaccination,” Missouri Chamber of Commerce CEO and president Dan Mehan said. “It’s unfortunate that this new federal policy will likely further divide public sentiment around COVID-19 vaccination.”

Biden has said the rule would ensure a smoother return to the workplace with fewer disruptions from the virus.

“There have been no “mass firings” and worker shortages because of vaccination requirements,” he said Thursday. “Despite what some predicted and falsely assert, vaccination requirements have broad public support.”

Lowry reported from McClatchy’s Washington bureau.

This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 9:24 AM.