How will the Supreme Court rule on vaccine mandates? Here are some clues in the justice's questions and remarks Friday during oral arguments on two sets of challenges to the Biden administration’s authority to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Justice Stephen Breyer:
"As long as these things are not in effect, thousands of people are dying."
Justice Samuel Alito:
"Squeeze an elephant into a mousehole." By trying to use a general law passed many years ago as the legal basis for the mandate.
Justice Alana Kagan:
"The government is paying for the medical services so they have the right to dictate details of those services."
Justice Amy Coney-Barrett:
"When does the emergency end? How do we tell?"
Justice ClarenceThomas:
"Is a vaccine the only way to treat Covid?"
Justice Sonia Sotomayor:
"Why is the human being not a machine if it's spewing a virus, blood-bourne viruses? Are you questioning Congress's power or desire that OSHA do this?"
Justice Neil Gorsuch:
"Congress has had a year to act on the question of vaccine mandates... Now the federal government is going agency-to-agency as a workaround to its inability to get Congress to act."
Justice Brett Kavanaugh:
Hospitals and healthcare organizations, "overwhelmingly appear to support the Secretary's regulation."
Justice John Roberts:
"This is something the federal government has never done before."
It is important to remember that there are actually two cases being argued simultaneously here: The first is the OSHA mandate, in Missouri Vs. Biden and affects 80 million Americans. The second is about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid requirement that 10 million healthcare workers be vaccinated.
There's a lot at stake regarding executive power through federal agencies, experts say. The court could gut the President's ability to use agencies as law creators/enforcers, returning more power back to congress. Or it could rule much more narrowly, as this court is prone to do, and only strike down the mandate in one or both of these cases, without saying anything about the broader implications of the action.
The third option is choosing to let it stand as is, which experts say would greatly expand this and any future president's ability to create and enforce rules without a say from congress. The balance of powers is on trial much more than the vaccine.
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