A federal judge in Texas today ordered a halt to the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for federal workers in yet another setback to the federal government’s improper actions to force COVID-19 vaccinations upon millions of American workers.

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Brown blocks enforcement of an Executive Order that would have required all federal employees to take the vaccination or lose their jobs.

“All Americans have the indispensable right to make their own health care choices, today’s court order reaffirms that right,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “My administration cherishes that freedom and until the Biden Administration does as well, these lawsuits will continue.”   

In its order, the Court said it was “a bridge too far” to allow the president under his own authority to require federal workers to undergo a medical procedure without Congressional approval. The ruling comes just a week after Alaska and other states prevailed in the U.S. Supreme Court in their efforts to prevent the federal government from implementing a vaccine mandate on private businesses.

“The State of Alaska is engaged on multiple fronts in protecting its citizens against overreaching federal mandates that ignore the Constitution and infringe on the rights of all Alaskans,” Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor said. “The president alone doesn’t have the authority to make ‘vaccination status’ a line on a job application.”

While Alaska is not currently a party to the Texas lawsuit, Attorney General Taylor and the State have filed other federal court complaints to stop the overreaching vaccine mandates.

Alaska was a plaintiff in the Supreme Court action that halted the private-employer mandate. Alaska has sued to block a vaccine requirement for federal contractors and a vaccine and masking rule for Head Start providers. The State is also participating in litigation to block mandatory vaccines for healthcare providers that receive federal Medicaid and Medicare funding.

The status of these cases can be found at https://law.alaska.gov/department/vaccine-mandates.html.

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