The Biden administration is telling large businesses to move forward with OSHA’s new mandatory vaccination. Meanwhile, a federal court put the requirement on hold Saturday.

Employers and Several States Suing OSHA for Constitutional Issues with the Order

Businesses aren’t sure whether to start or stop implementing  OSHA’s November 5 mandate requiring those with 100+ employees to create and enforce a vaccination policy or require masks and at least weekly COVID testing.  CNBC is reporting the White House today is telling businesses with 100+ employees to move forward enforcing a vaccination policy or requiring masks and at least weekly COVID testing. 

This is despite Saturday’s news that  a lawsuit filed November 6, resulting in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals putting a hold on the order. The federal court said the more than 27 entities that filed the lawsuit are seeking a permanent stop to the mandate due to  “grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate.”

The petitioners include several religious groups and the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Utah.

The court gives the government until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9 to respond.

The Milwaukee Journal reports a manufacturer in Darien, Wisconsin called Tankcraft and Plasticraft Corp. filed a lawsuit as well.

The newspaper quotes a company officer saying the company is facing an impossible choice — losing employees or steep fines.

“The order is unconscionable. OSHA does not know how to run our companies. We do,” said Steve Fettig, Secretary and Treasurer of Tankcraft and Plasticraft. “OSHA does not know how to keep our employees safe. We do. And we have done so successfully since the start of the pandemic without the interference of a federal bureaucracy. We respect our employees’ fundamental right to make their own private, difficult medical choices.”

The Journal reported the attorneys in that case believe OSHA is overstepping its authority.

CNBC is reporting the White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as saying, “People should not wait. They should continue to move forward and make sure they’re getting their workplace vaccinated.”

The media outlet goes on to quote the Labor Department’s top lawyer, Seema Nanda, as saying the law “explicitly gives OSHA the authority to act quickly in an emergency where the agency finds that workers are subjected to a grave danger and a new standard is necessary to protect them.”