The fate of Joe Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate now rests with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which will soon be hearing multiple legal challenges to the proposed mandate, according to the Daily Caller.
After the Fifth Circuit had issued a halt on Biden’s mandate on November 6th, a ping-pong ball raffle was held in Washington, D.C. to determine which of the twelve circuit courts would take up the numerous legal cases challenging the constitutionality of the new rule. Twelve ping-pong balls, one for each circuit, was placed in a drum in D.C., with a member of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation withdrawing one ball; the ball that was selected represented the Sixth Circuit, which includes the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan.
Over 34 different lawsuits have been filed against the mandate in just 10 days. Among the most prominent lawsuits is one filed by RNC committeewoman and lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, on behalf of Ben Shapiro’s website The Daily Wire. Numerous other private businesses, non-profit groups, and elected officials have filed various lawsuits as well, including entire states and coalitions of Republican attorneys general.
Announced on September 9th, Biden directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to implement a nationwide mandate that would force all businesses with 100 employees or more to mandate vaccinations for their workforce, or else face fines and other forms of retaliation if they did not comply. Additional nationwide mandates were issued for healthcare workers, federal employees, and federal contractors, which are even more restrictive. All mandates have faced severe backlash from employees, unions, and other groups representing workers’ rights.
“Together, these rules will cover about 100 million Americans,” said Biden in his announcement on September 9th. “Two-thirds of all workers in America.”