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Happening Today: U.S. Supreme Court Set to Hear Arguments In Vaccine Mandate Cases


Today, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in two vaccine mandate cases currently pending before the Court.

The first case deals with a mandate issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that requires employers with 100 or more employees either require coronavirus vaccines as a condition of employment or require unvaccinated employees submit to weekly testing and mandatory mask wearing in the workplace.  As readers might recall, this mandate was previously stayed by the Sixth Circuit but later that stay was lifted.  The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently took up the appeal afterward.

The second case deals with a mandate issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that requires healthcare workers at hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funds to receive the coronavirus vaccine or risk being terminated.  This mandate has been halted in about half the states while it remains in effect in approximately the other half.  The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently took up the appeal given this split among Circuits.

Now as a reminder, the Court is not issuing a ruling on either case today.  Today is only for oral arguments before eventual decisions are issued by the Justices.  However, heading into today’s arguments, it is too soon to predict which way the Court will rule on either case.  For those that follow today’s arguments, I would suggest you pay attention to the questions (and the tenor of the questions) from the Justices.  While that does not necessarily indicate which way a particular Justice will rule, it can be indicative of which way a particular Justice might lean.

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