A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine rule for large companies on Saturday, citing "grave statutory and constitutional issues" with the mandate.

What You Need To Know

  • A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine rule for large companies

  • The order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit cited "grave statutory and constitutional issues" with the mandate

  • The rule required businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for their workforce or submit to weekly testing

  • The requirement was set to kick in Jan. 4, and failure to comply could result in penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation

President Joe Biden in September released a pandemic action plan, which required businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for their workforce or submit to weekly testing. The requirement was set to kick in Jan. 4, and failure to comply could result in penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

The order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit came after more than a dozen Republican-led states filed lawsuits against the Biden administration over the rule.

On Friday, attorneys general in 11 states were the first major group to sue, in a filing led by Missouri and joined by Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Iowa’s Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller.

“This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise,” said the court filing by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, one of several Republicans vying for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat next year.

In a statement released Saturday, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, praised the court's action, saying it "not only halts Biden from moving forward with his unlawful overreach, but it also commands the judicious review we sought."

"The President will not impose medical procedures on the American people without the checks and balances afforded by the Constitution," Landry continued.

Texas and Florida officials also announced suits Friday morning.

"Yesterday, I sued the Biden Admin over its unlawful OSHA vax mandate," the Texas Attorney General's office wrote on Twitter on Saturday, adding: "WE WON."

"Just this morning, citing 'grave statutory and constitutional issues,' the 5th Circuit stayed the mandate," the Twitter post continues. "The fight is not over and I will never stop resisting this Admin’s unconstitutional overreach!"

The Biden administration has until Monday at 5 p.m. ET to respond, followed by a reply from the petitioners on Tuesday.

Recent polling suggests that a majority of Americans favor the vaccine mandate: Nearly 6 in 10 Americans supported Biden's vaccine mandates in a Gallup survey from September and similar majority approval in recent Monmouth and AP-NORC polls.

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 754,000 people in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.