US court upholds stay on Biden's vaccine mandate over Ron Klain's 'endorsing' tweet

A US federal appeals court, on Friday, November 12, upheld a stay on US President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate, citing a retweet by White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain as a key piece of evidence, the New York Post reported. The court also ruled that Klain's retweet of a post by MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle was an endorsement of her claim about a mandate "work-around," according to a report.   

Klain's retweet from September 9, originally posted by MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle, read, "OSHA doing this vaxx mandate as an emergency workplace safety rule is an ultimate work-around for the Federal government to require vaccinations. (sic)"

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals mentioned in the statement, "Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) "reasonably determined" in June 2020 that an emergency temporary standard (ETS) was 'not necessary' to protect people from occupational exposure to infectious disease, including COVID-19," New York Post reported. 

The federal appeals court upheld the stay order on Biden's mandate after it was legally challenged by Texas and several other states. The ruling was reportedly influenced by Klain's retweet that was considered to be an "endorsement" of Ruhle's description of the mandate. The retweet by Klain was also mentioned as a footnote in the statement released by the court, as per NY Post.

OSHA vaccine mandate

On Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the OSHA under the US Labour Department to "take no steps to implement or enforce the mandate until further court order." In what is considered to be a lengthy legal battle over the legality of the mandate, the decision came after the court on November 6 agreed to stay the mandate "pending briefing and expedited judicial review."

As per the statement released by the court, OSHA promulgated its much-anticipated vaccine mandate on November 5. Framed as an ETS, the mandate requires all employers of 100 or more employees to develop, implement and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. As part of the policy, any worker who would remain unvaccinated must undergo a weekly COVID-19 test and facemask at work instead of vaccination.

On the afternoon of the mandate’s publication, many petitioners (including covered employers, States, religious groups, and individual citizens) moved to stay and permanently enjoin the mandate in federal courts of appeals across the nation. The petitioners sought a stay order and ultimately an injunction of the mandate enforcement.

(Image: AP)