The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled recently that President Biden acted within his authority in issuing a controversial COVID-19 vaccination mandate for federal contractors in September 2021. In reversing a lower federal court ruling in Mayes v. Biden, the Ninth Circuit went in the opposite direction from three other federal circuit courts that refused to uphold the mandate because they concluded that the President exceeded his authority in issuing it. Although the ruling is somewhat academic because the contractor vaccination mandate has never been enforced, the decision nevertheless is important legally because it increases the possibility of a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the extent of a President’s executive authority under the federal Procurement Act.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.