Georgia AG joins other states in demanding OSHA permanently withdraw vaccine mandate

ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is demanding that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration withdraw its vaccine mandate, following the decision by the Supreme Court blocking the Biden administration from enforcing the mandate.

“The Biden administration’s stubborn attempt to keep alive its heavy-handed mandate against private businesses and their employees will only create further uncertainty for hardworking Georgians,” Carr said in a news release Monday. “This delay is completely unnecessary, and the President should put an end to it once and for all by immediately withdrawing his unlawful permit.”

Earlier this month, the court’s majority concluded the administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the OSHA’s vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees. More than 80 million people would have been affected and OSHA had estimated that the rule would save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations over six months.

At the same time, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S.

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Carr joined attorneys general from several other states in a letter “to immediately withdraw the (Emergency Temporary Standard) and suspend its efforts to promulgate a similar permanent standard.”

“Both the Supreme Court and the American people have spoken, and they have loudly said the Biden administration’s attempts at forcing this mandate on Americans and businesses are not only wrong, but also unconstitutional,” Gov. Brian Kemp said. “Still, the President continues to seek other avenues for his failed policies. In effect, he is saying to the people and the highest court in the land, ‘You’re wrong, and I’m going to get my way.’ This is unacceptable, and Attorney General Carr and I will continue to fight the federal government’s unlawful disruption of our lives and economy.”

Kemp and Carr have also filed several lawsuits challenging the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates.

President Joe Biden said he was “disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law.”

Biden called on businesses to institute their own vaccination requirements, noting that a third of Fortune 100 companies already have done so.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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