, and a vaccine mandate for most health care workers — as the country grapples with the latest wave of infections.
Conservative members of the court expressed skepticism about the rule, with Justice Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice John Roberts suggesting the administration had overstepped its bounds. Roberts said it was “hard to argue” that officials had been given the power to act by Congress. Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested that a problem with the rule was its broad scope.
Justice Elena Kagan also indicated support for the rule, saying officials have shown “quite clearly that no other policy will prevent sickness and death to anywhere like the degree that this one will.” Fletcher explained the administration views the issue Gorsuch raised as meaning that the government cannot dictate particular hiring decisions, not that it cannot issue work requirements
During Kavanaugh’s questioning, the justice noted what he called a “missing element”: The fact that hospitals and healthcare providers have largely been in support of the mandate. Many have attributed the surge to the Omicron variant, with the CDC estimating it represents roughly 95 percent of cases in the country, while the Delta variant is behind the remainder.Eric Schmitt, Missouri’s Republican attorney general, slammed the order, telling Fox News, “The federal government is supposed to be one of limited powers. And forcing the vaccine on tens of millions of Americans isn’t one of them.