Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer spoke candidly during a town hall meeting with business leaders in her state this week, reportedly telling them that the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate was “a problem for all of us.”
During the meeting with local business leaders in Howard City, about 35 miles north of Grand Rapids, Whitmer told them that she understood their concerns about the federal vaccine mandates, according to a report from The Daily News, a local outlet based in Montcalm County.
“We’re an employer too, the state of Michigan is,” Whitmer said. “I know if that mandate happens, we’re going to lose state employees. That’s why I haven’t proposed a mandate at the state level. Some states have. We have not, we’re waiting to see what happens in court.”
“But we have a lot of the same concerns that you just voiced, and it’s going to be a problem for all of us,” she added.
Whitmer’s remarks were in response to a question asked by the head of a home health care organization in the area, the Detroit Free Press noted.
Whitmer has been mostly quiet on the talk of vaccine mandates, the Detroit Free Press added.
The outlet also reported that Michigan is one of more than two dozen states that, despite having its own set of workplace safety regulations, are required to have state and local officials meet guidelines that effectively mirror federal guidelines, meaning the mandate would apply in essence.
The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal employees was halted nationwide by a federal court in Georgia on Tuesday. The decision followed a preliminary injunction brought by a federal judge in Kentucky.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) suspended enforcement of the vaccine mandate for private employers after it was halted by injunctions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court found that the mandate was “staggeringly overbroad” and legally dubious for multiple reasons. The Daily Wire reported:
The Fifth Circuit Court issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting the mandate, pending judicial review, on November 6, citing potential “grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate.” The Court reaffirmed its stay after completing its judicial review on November 12, writing that the mandate was both over-inclusive, because of its sweeping and indiscriminate imposition on companies regardless of industry or work environment, and under-inclusive because it purports to help workers with 99 or more coworkers while giving no help to those with 98 or fewer coworkers. Besides that, the Court found the administration’s stated impetus — an emergency that has gone on for almost two years and that OSHA took two months to respond to — dubious. The Court found that the mandate, which the Court described as “staggeringly overbroad,” “grossly exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority.”
The mandate is currently being reviewed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
A group of Republicans in the U.S. Senate has also moved to block the OSHA mandate. The resolution is expected to pass the Senate, behind support from moderate Democrats Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
The Daily Wire is fighting Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate in federal court. Join us in this fight by signing our petition to OSHA, telling them that you will not comply with this mandate.
Source: Dailywire
