A member of a three-judge panel for the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said during Friday oral arguments, the Joe Biden administration’s authority to order COVID-19 vaccinations for federal contract workers could ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“You may win the case, the Supreme Court may go with the government down the road,” Circuit Judge William Pryor Jr., told Department of Justice attorney Joshua Revesz at one point. On the other hand, Pryor said he would not be surprised “if the other side wins either.”
In an Atlanta courtroom, Revesz said the president is justified in saying agencies will contract only with companies “who protect their workers from COVID-19.” The federal government contracts with private companies for goods and services that could be delayed when sick employees are infecting their co-workers with the airborne virus, Revesz said.
An audio recording of the Friday arguments was posted online Monday. The appeals court is considering whether to overturn a nationwide injunction against enforcement of the mandate handed down in December by a federal district judge in Georgia. Biden issued a set of executive orders in September that are being challenged in multiple federal courts.
“We are not suggesting vaccines are not good or effective,” Stephen Petrany of the Georgia solicitor general’s office told the appeals panel. But “what happens when you start firing people?” for not getting vaccinated under the Procurement Act, Petrany asked.
It is not clear the president has “the power to impose health conditions on a fifth of the nation’s workforce” without explicit authorization from congress, Petrany said.
When members of the appeals court questioned if the district judge went too far in issuing a national restraining order, Petrany said the vaccine mandate affects all contractors.
If Georgia Tech bids on the same federal business as Virginia Tech, it would not make sense for the two universities to abide by different rules just because they are in different court jurisdictions, Petrany said.
Before New Year’s, Georgia, Idaho, South Carolina and certain other states along with the Associated Builders and Contractors group, successfully challenged the vaccine mandate before U.S. District Court Judge Stan Baker in Southern Georgia.
