AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and "several allied states and companies" have sued the Biden administration over new federal COVID-19 vaccine rules for big businesses.
The new federal rules require big businesses to mandate vaccination among their employees by Jan. 4, or require regular testing. The rules preempt state and local laws, including Gov. Greg Abbott's statewide ban on vaccine mandates.
“The Biden Administration’s new vaccine mandate on private businesses is a breathtaking abuse of federal power,” Paxton said in a written statement. "OSHA has only limited power and specific responsibilities. This latest move goes way outside those bounds. This ‘standard’ is flatly unconstitutional. Bottom line: Biden’s new mandate is bad policy and bad law, and I’m asking the Court to strike it down."
Paxton filed the State's Petition for Review directly with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. His office said he will soon follow up with a Motion for Stay. Read the full Petition for Review.
This latest action by the AG's office comes one week after Paxton sued the Biden administration in an effort to stop mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for federal contractor workers. That lawsuit came the day after Paxton and 20 other states' attorneys general sent the Biden administration a joint letter challenging that mandate.
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