JAKARTA - A judge in Texas, United States (US) ruled on Friday, President Joe Biden cannot require federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, blocking the US Government from disciplining employees who fail to comply.
It was the latest setback in the White House's efforts to require various groups of United States workers to be vaccinated.
President Biden has issued an order requiring some 3.5 million government employees to be vaccinated on November 22, except with medical and religious exceptions, or face disciplinary action up to dismissal.
US District Judge Jeffrey Brown said the question is whether President Biden can "require millions of federal employees to undergo medical procedures as a condition of their employment? That, under the current state of the law, as recently stated by the Supreme Court, is a bridge that is too far."
Brown, who is based in Galveston and appointed by President Donald Trump at the time, said the government could protect public health with less invasive measures, such as the use of masks and social distancing.
Judge Brown's ruling is the latest in a series of court decisions that go against the government's vaccine requirements.
The White House said more than 93 percent of federal employees had received at least one vaccination, while 98 percent had been vaccinated or sought religious or medical exemption.
"We have confidence in our legal authority," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in response to the judge's ruling.
The Justice Department on Friday said it would appeal the ruling. The government has noted that many other courts have rejected similar challenges, with federal agencies saying they will not discipline or penalize employees with pending exception requests.
The judge said it was his understanding that the government would start disciplining non-compliant employees in the near future. The White House said this month it wanted federal agencies to begin requiring routine weekly COVID-19 tests on February 15.
Separately, Brian Fouche, a survey statistician with the Department of Commerce with 16 years of government experience, was told in a January 19 letter he would be suspended for 14 days starting January 30 because he refused to disclose his vaccination status, according to court documents.
The letter from the US Census Bureau told Fouche, "His misconduct is very serious and will not be tolerated," according to a copy of the letter in court records. The letter said failure to comply with vaccine requirements could lead to his dismissal.
The order covers federal workers in the executive branch, but does not apply to postal workers or legislative or judicial employees.
Earlier in mid-January, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Biden's COVID-19 vaccination or testing mandate for big business, a policy conservative judges saw as an inappropriate imposition on the lives and health of many Americans.
However, the court allowed a separate federal vaccine requirement for healthcare facilities.
Then, a third major vaccine requirement aimed at employees of federal contractors such as airlines and manufacturers was blocked by a federal judge in December.
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To note, COVID-19 has killed more than 860.000 people in the United States in a two-year pandemic and has weighed heavily on the economy.
Meanwhile, many large companies such as United Airlines and Tyson Foods Inc have lauded their success in using the mandate to get nearly all staff vaccinated.
The Supreme Court ruling blocking mandates for larger businesses prompted some employers to waive vaccine requirements for staff.
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