State Politics

SC attorney general takes Biden’s vaccine mandate to US Supreme Court

South Carolina’s attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court Saturday to stop President Joe Biden’s workplace vaccine requirement.

After a federal appeals court ruled in a 2-1 decision Friday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration can mandate vaccines against the coronavirus within companies, SC Attorney General Alan Wilson filed an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the lower court’s ruling.

“The fight against the Biden mandate continues, even to filing for a stay in the early hours of this morning,” Wilson said. “The rule of law will prevail and the president’s grasp for power halted.”

In the filing Wilson wrote that he’s not arguing the effectiveness of vaccines but that OSHA does not have the authority to require them.

With OSHA’s vaccine mandate back in effect, workers are required to be vaccinated or to undergo weekly COVID testing. Companies are also required to have unvaccinated employees wear masks. The mandate only applies to companies of 100 or more employees.

Biden’s vaccine mandate was stayed in November after a federal court ruling, but that ruling was undone by Friday’s appeal’s court decision.

This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 1:09 PM.

David Travis Bland
The State
David Travis Bland is The State’s editorial editor. In his prior position as a reporter, he was named the 2020 South Carolina Journalist of the Year by the SC Press Association. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2010. Support my work with a digital subscription
Get one year of unlimited digital access for $159.99
#ReadLocal

Only 44¢ per day

SUBSCRIBE NOW