Sunshine Sentinel

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody joined attorney generals from 23 other states in warning President Joe Biden in a letter of legal action if he doesn’t stop the “unlawful and harmful plan” to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations of private citizens.

Moody is among elected officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who object to Biden’s announcement on Sept. 9 ordering the vaccine mandate that would affect businesses with 100-plus employees.

“The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work,” The White House said online in “President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan.” “OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees.”

Moody and attorney generals from 23 other states sent Biden a letter dated Sept. 16 that outlined their opposition to Biden’s “attempt to mandate the vaccination of private citizens.” The letter, in part, said the plan “will further strain” the labor market when Americans leave the job market rather than comply with the mandate. The plan is illegal, the letter said. 

“An emergency temporary standard does not have to go through notice and comment and can be made effective immediately upon publication. Because of this lack of process and oversight, courts have viewed these standards with suspicion,” the letter said. “Courts are skeptical because the law demands it.”

Moody signed the letter with attorney generals of the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. 

Biden said on Sept. 10 at Brookland Middle School in Washington, D.C., in answer to a question about Republican governors threatening to challenge the vaccine mandate in court, he was disappointed that “some Republican governors have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities,” transcripts of the remarks posted on The White House website said.

“I would say, generally, that when you are taking action that’s unconstitutional and threatening the jobs of people in my state. Many, many thousands of jobs. I am standing for them. We are going to protect their jobs against federal overreach,” News4JAX reported DeSantis as saying in response to Biden. 

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed the first lawsuit in the U.S. against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate “for federal employees, federal contractors, and private businesses with more than 100 employees,” a Sept. 14 press release said.