A federal judge in Texas ruled on Friday that President Joe Biden cannot require federal employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19, preventing the US administration from penalizing employees who do not comply.
This was the final blow to the White House’s efforts to mandate the vaccination of American employees.
Biden issued a decree requiring nearly 3.5 million federal government employees to be vaccinated by November 22; Accordingly, it was foreseen that those who did not comply with the rule, except for religious and medical reasons, would be disciplined or dismissed.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown said the question was whether Biden could require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical process for work reasons.
‘Less intrusive measures should be preferred’
Appointed by then-president Donald Trump, Brown said the government could protect public health with less intrusive measures such as masks and social distancing.
The judge’s decision is the latest in a series of court orders against the government’s vaccination mandates.
The White House said more than 93 percent of federal employees had at least one vaccine, and 98 percent had been vaccinated or had a religious or medical exemption.
“We have confidence in our legal authority,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, in response to the judge’s decision.
Ministry of Justice will appeal the decision
The Justice Department said on Friday it will appeal the decision.
The US Supreme Court this month blocked President Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine requirement or test rule for large businesses. The court allowed a separate federal vaccination requirement for healthcare workers.
A third major vaccination requirement for employees of federally contracted agencies such as airlines and factories was blocked by a federal judge in December.