Biden’s announcement, which came Sept. 9, turned to skepticism for many as five weeks passed and it appeared Biden was depending on the threat itself to bully businesses into complying with no intention of rolling out a rule and then defending it in court.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) was among the skeptics who were pointing out three weeks ago that no OSHA rule meant no lawsuit to fight, American Family News reported.
This week, however, the U.S. Dept. of Labor announced it had submitted what it calls an “emergency temporary standard” to the Office of Management and Budget for review, Fox News reported.
So that means the legal fight is likely coming soon.
Reacting to the pending OSHA rule, American Family Association general counsel Abraham Hamilton III says forcing a business to enforce The Jab is a step “far beyond” the federal government’s purview and beyond OSHA’s federal authority to enforce that purview.
"First and foremost, Congress has not granted OSHA the authority to mandate vaccinations,” Hamilton told the “Today’s Issues” program. “If you look at the statute that creates OSHA and gives it its administrative authority, it talks about substances or chemicals that employees would be exposed to. It doesn't talk about any vaccine mandates or things of that nature."
Hamilton, who has researched the legal issue for the Mississippi-based ministry, said the White House chose a “precarious” legal strategy by using OHSA to enforce The Jab since numerous courts have ruled against OSHA’s authority, including four of six emergency regulations going back decades, he says.
Warning signs flashing all over
On another AFR program, “Washington Watch,” vaccine mandate opponent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) said the Biden administration is setting up private businesses to experience serious disruptions among their employees who are refusing The Jab at work.
“It’ll disrupt everything,” he warned. “Just like whenever government gets involved in the private sector, it screws it up and screws it up badly.”
Meanwhile, as the country heads into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, Americans this week learned inflation is breaking records and wintertime heating costs are predicted to soar, and Biden's chief of staff, meanwhile, retweeted a Harvard economic professor who said the current economic issues facing struggling families are "high class problems."
Asked this week about inflation causing groceries and gas prices to soar, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the public is not as worried as reporters are assuming.
"We all understand the American people are not looking at cost-to-cost comparisons from this year to two years ago," she said Wednesday. "They're looking at their cost-to-cost comparisons in their checkbooks from 8 months ago or 12 months ago."
In the AFR radio interview, Sen. Johnson used the example of the trucking industry, which the public depends on to move freight to stock our store shelves, as an example of a vital industry poised for trouble if the OSHA rule is enforced.
Another example this week is the revolt at Southwest Airlines among its union-member pilots which has caused major flight disruptions for the national carrier.
The cancellations and delays came after the pilots’ union went to federal court to ask a judge to block their employers’ order to get the vaccine. The union publicly denied it had ordered or approved the revolt, likely leaving individual pilots to decide whether to call in sick to send a message. Many of them apparently did but Southwest blamed the delays on bad weather.
As the pilot revolt unfolded this week, the reaction to their pushback proved even more interesting. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly claimed on CNBC he opposes the government-enforced mandate but, days later, the Texas-based company announced it will defy a counter-move from Gov. Greg Abbott that bans vaccine mandates.
As attorneys across the country prepare their lawsuits against OHSA, Lindsey Curnutte of Heritage Action says it will be fellow Americans who are harmed by the Biden administration and its economic policies.
“We’re kind of already seeing what a mandate would do at the national level,” she warns. “And it would lead to problematic supply chain issues, shortages, waits for customers.”
Asked this week if the White House can guarantee a smooth Christmas-shopping season that is not disrupted by empty shelves, Psaki said that is "no guarantee" and it is not the Biden administration's job.
“We are not the Postal Service or UPS or FedEx,” she replied.
American Family Association is the parent organization of American Family News, which operates AFN.net
