SCOTUS Halts OSHA’s Vax-or-Test ETS (but Greenlights CMS Rule). On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States stayed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) pending legal review in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In issuing the stay, the Court ruled that the challengers to the ETS were likely to prevail because the ETS exceeded OSHA’s statutory authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to establish workplace safety standards:
The question, then, is whether the Act plainly authorizes the Secretary’s mandate. It does not. The Act empowers the Secretary to set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.
The Court further stated that “no provision of the Act addresses public health more generally, which falls outside of OSHA’s sphere of expertise.”
Melissa A. Bailey and John F. Martin have the details on the Court’s decision on OSHA’s ETS.
On the other hand, the Court allowed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to proceed with enforcement of its vaccine rule because it is within the scope of its statutory authority:
Congress has authorized the Secretary to impose conditions on the receipt of Medicaid and Medicare funds that “the Secretary finds necessary in the interest of the health and safety of individuals who are furnished services.” […] The rule thus fits neatly within the language of the statute.
James M. Paul and Jody...
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