JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, along with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, filed a lawsuit on Thursday, November 4 in order to stop President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.
“In an effort to check the box on universal vaccination,” said Fitch. “President Biden has vastly overreached his authority, putting the jobs of one-fifth of the American workforce in jeopardy and violating vital principles, including state sovereignty, the rule of law, and religious liberty. The very fact that his own Administration is contradicting itself in directives carrying out his mandate is strong evidence of its lack of any foundation in fact or law. State Attorneys General asked the President to halt the mandate, and in the absence of any response, we are taking this legal action.”
On Tuesday, Governor Tate Reeves stated he and Fitch would file a lawsuit challenging the mandate.
According to the mandate, tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government rules issued Thursday.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said companies that fail to comply could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.
The new requirements, which were first previewed by President Joe Biden in September, will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated.
The lawsuit claimed the Biden Administration failed to try to connect its mandate with any statutory
language that might authorize taking the action. It also stated the mandate violates the Tenth Amendment by encroaching on states’ traditional police power, again, without any clear Congressional authority to do so.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.