On November 2021 Biden issued directives requiring all Federal employees in facilities funded by the Medicare or Medicaid to be vaccinated against Covid-19. He also issued an executive order requiring employees in workplaces with more than 100 employees to be vaccinated or be producing testing certificate on weekly basis (The White House, 2021). The move was meant to curb the spread of the corona virus pandemic in the United States by reducing the rate of hospitalization and deaths. Biden mandatory vaccination decision was not received without constitutional criticism by the congress.
The congress believes the Executive is abusing its powers and mandate, and is putting millions of jobs at risk as employees may opt to quit those jobs. If for example, health care workers quit their duties, it means the federal facilities that serves the general public will be left without health care professionals. This will definitely deny the citizens the services they deserve. Also, other sectors with more than 100 employees can cripple the economy (Higgins, 2021). What if these employees chose to resign due to religious beliefs or medical record privacy in regard to vaccination?
Both houses, the Senate and House of Representative, solidly voted to overturn Biden legislation. For example, in Senate 52 senators including two Democrats voted against Biden mandatory vaccination (NAYLOR, 2021). The Congress was not consulted as required by the constitution by the Executive on the vaccination issue. Both houses argue that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is given its mandate by the congress and not the Executive and thus there is no way it can make a legislation without involving the congress.
Since, the President could not agree with the congress decision, the case was taken to the Supreme court. The supreme court will now veto the legislation. But, based on United States District Courts the supreme court may maintain the precedents that the legislation is unconstitutional as it violates individual civil liberties and that individuals should maintain the freedom to accept or refrain vaccination, the same way citizen chooses which vaccination they want. Though, the supreme court may follow the verdicts of District Courts, it also has powers to rule otherwise (Adams, 2022).
The battle of whether Biden mandatory vaccine legislation is constitutional or not is politically inclined. Majority of the Republicans are the ones who are against the legislation (LEONHARDT, 2022). The question now is; does it mean Democrats in both houses are controlled by the Executive? Did the framers of the constitution ever thought political parties will compromise the independence of the branches of the government? It seems the Congress and the Executive will reach a point and be one branch of the government.
