Grassley, Miller-Meeks join GOP effort to strike Biden vaccine mandate for businesses
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Wednesday joined all his colleagues in formally challenging President Biden’s vaccine mandate under the Congressional Review Act. This move to overturn the vaccine or test mandate for private employers is guaranteed a vote on the Senate floor, possibly as soon as early December.
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, joined more than 150 House GOP members in filing a formal challenge seeking to nullify the vaccine-or-test rule.
The resolution, led by U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-Pennsylvania, is a companion to the Senate resolution supported by all 50 GOP senators.
A federal appeals court has temporarily paused implementation of a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule requiring workers at larger businesses to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or face regular testing. Unvaccinated workers would be required to wear a face mask on the job, beginning Dec. 6.
And Iowa joined 10 other states earlier this month in filing a lawsuit against the Biden administration to challenge the new vaccine requirement for workplaces that employ more than 100 employees, asserting the authority to compel vaccinations lies with states, not the federal government.
Biden administration officials have cited mandates as effective in boosting vaccination rates, in the hopes of increasing the stagnating national rate.
The vaccinate-or-test requirement is estimated to impact more than 84 million workers.
Employers that violate the rule can face fines of up to $13,653 per violation for serious violations and up to $136,532 for willful or repeated violations.
Although fully vaccinated and having administered vaccines in all 24 counties in southeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, Miller-Meeks, who operated a private ophthalmology practice in Ottumwa and served as director of the Iowa Department of Public Health under former Republican Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, said in a statement, “For months I have said that getting a COVID-19 vaccine should be a choice, not a requirement of employment.”
“Businesses across the country are already seeing the real impacts of labor shortages, supply chain issues, and inflation; they don’t need more government intervention,” Miller-Meeks said.
The joint resolution, if passed, would express Congress’ formal disapproval of the COVID-19 vaccination and testing; emergency temporary standard, and states that “such rule shall have no force or effect.”
With narrow Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, the resolution is expected to fail, but the vote could prove difficult for vulnerable incumbents up for re-election in 2022, as The Hill reported.
Iowa Republican U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson and Randy Feenstra also signed as co-sponsors of the resolution.
Miller-Meeks on Wednesday also joined Iowa Democratic U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne to introduce bipartisan legislation that would extend a federal deadline for health care providers to use federal dollars to care for patients and protect workers.