Attorney General Todd Rokita: Hoosiers’ liberty hangs in the balance as U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on Biden’s vaccine mandates
Attorney General Todd Rokita pledged to continue defending personal freedoms as the U.S. Supreme Court today prepares to hear oral arguments on two of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“In a free republic, the protection of individual liberty must be a priority,” Attorney General Rokita said. “The federal government’s overreach through vaccine mandates threatens our country’s foundation. Truly, Hoosiers’ liberty hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court deliberates over these important constitutional issues.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments over two separate vaccine mandates. One of those is an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule requiring vaccination or weekly testing of workers at large employers. Attorney General Rokita’s lawsuit challenging this OSHA vaccine mandate was consolidated with other similar suits and is part of what is being heard today. The other vaccine mandate that will be heard is a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule requiring vaccination of all staff at all Medicare and Medicaid providers. Attorney General Rokita filed suit to stop this government overreach.
Attorney General Rokita has filed four separate lawsuits against the Biden administration over its draconian vaccine mandates. In addition to lawsuits over the OSHA and CMS mandates, he also has filed lawsuits over 1) a vaccine mandate for federal contractors and 2) a mandate requiring masks for children as young as 2 years old and vaccines for staff and volunteers at childcare programs receiving Head Start funds.
All these lawsuits have borne positive results.
A federal appeals court initially prevented the OSHA mandate from going into effect. Although another federal appeals court subsequently lifted that ruling, the Supreme Court now has the opportunity to chart the correct course.
In Indiana, the federal vaccine mandates for Medicare/Medicaid providers and Head Start facilities are not in effect thanks to the lawsuits filed by Attorney General Rokita and likeminded attorneys general in other states. Indiana has also secured an injunction against the federal contractor mandate, but the court limited that injunction to the State of Indiana’s contracts.
“Hoosiers can rest assured we will keep working to protect their constitutional freedoms,” Attorney General Rokita said. “This fight against gross federal overreach is one we absolutely must win, and we will not rest until we prevail on behalf of liberty.”