While the fate of two COVID-19 vaccination rules by federal agencies were decided in January by the Supreme Court of the United States, millions of employees working for the federal government, whether directly or as a contractor, have been waiting for clarity in the wake of court orders halting Presidential efforts to promote vaccination. Here is a brief update on the status of litigation challenging the extent of the President’s authority to command the Executive Branch.

Federal Employee Vaccine Mandate

On February 9, 2022, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to lift a stay of Executive Order 14043 , the Executive Order on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. That Order, instructing all federal agencies to implement a policy requiring all federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, is one of two directives issued by President Joe Biden on September 9, 2021 as part of his administration’s original action plan (originally known as the “Path Out of the Pandemic” plan, which the Biden Administration recently replaced with a new National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan) to combat the ongoing pandemic. The stay had been issued by the District Court for the Southern District of Texas on January 21, 2022, in response to an application for a temporary injunction from plaintiffs who were led by a group of federal employees labeling themselves as “Feds for Medical Freedom.” As noted in the dissent...

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