In separate opinions issued Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers while lifting an injunction on a similar mandate for health care workers.

Both cases appeared to turn, at least in part, on whether the Court determined the federal agencies issuing the mandates had the legal authority to do so.

How Justices Lined Up

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neal Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett supported opinions in both cases that the agencies lacked congressional authority.

Meanwhile, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagan took the position in both cases that the vaccine mandates were lawful.

The swing votes were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who were part of the 6-3 majority blocking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s enforcement of its mandate for vaccines at all businesses with 100 or more employees.

But Roberts and Kavanaugh also were part of the 5-4 majority allowing enforcement to go forward on the Department of Human Services vaccine mandate for healthcare workers at facilities receiving Medicaid and Medicare funding.

Both cases addressed interim enforcement of the respective rules and weren’t the final decision on how legal challenges against the mandates will be resolved.

But since the same nine justices will decide the ultimate fate of both mandates, Thursday’s opinions sent clear signals as to how those appeals will play out.

OSHA Mandate

That doesn’t bode well for OSHA’s sweeping mandate for businesses employing at least 100 people, which would have impacted an estimated 84 million employees, including hundreds working in Kingfisher County.

The Court’s opinion held that parties challenging the mandate “are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the Secretary (of Labor) lacked authority to impose the mandate.”

According to the opinion, the 1970 Congressional act creating OSHA empowers the agency to “set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.”

The risk of contracting COVID-19 is not workplace-specific since the virus “can and does spread at home, in schools, during sporting events and everywhere else that people gather,” the Court wrote.

“Permitting OSHA to regulate the hazards of daily life – simply because most Americans have jobs and face those same risks while on the clock – would significantly expand OSHA’s regulatory authority without clear congressional authorization,” according to the opinion.

The Court’s decision to block enforcement will save employers hefty compliance costs that would not have been recoverable even if the mandate is ultimately overturned completely as the appeals play out.

Employees also will avoid choosing between accepting a vaccine against their will or paying for and undergoing weekly testing and wearing a mask for companies who offered that option or losing their jobs.

Mandate for Medical Workers

Nearly all hospitals and major medical systems already had imposed vaccine requirements in anticipation of the federal mandate, but smaller facilities who had not done so will now have to comply.