Tennessee’s Republican House Speaker is celebrating after a federal judge Tuesday struck down President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

“Speaker Sexton has always maintained that federal mandates imposed on Americans by the Biden administration were unconstitutional,” Doug Kufner, Communications Director for Tennessee’s House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) told The Tennessee Star Wednesday. “These injunctions are the first step in preserving the constitutional rights of Tennesseans and all Americans.”

Biden’s vaccine mandate, announced late in the summer, compelled employees of companies with more than 100 employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine, or be fired.

For healthcare workers, that mandate was set to take effect next week, though many were given an earlier deadline by their respective companies.

“There is no question that mandating a vaccine to 10.3 million health care workers is something that should be done by Congress, not a government agency,”U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Judge Terry Doughty, wrote in his decision. “It is not clear that even an act of Congress mandating a vaccine would be constitutional.”

A different ruling halted the imposition of vaccine mandates for employees of companies that have contracts with the federal government.

All of this occurred after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals halted Biden’s vaccine mandates entirely, and the Occupational Heath and Safety Administration (OSHA) dropped its enforcement of the mandates.

While the Biden Administration has been dealing with the setbacks in federal courts nationwide, the Tennessee legislature has been working hard to defy those vaccine orders at the state level.

On November 12, Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a flurry of bills into law restricting COVID-19 mandates, particularly banning private businesses from requiring their employees to take the vaccine.

Other legislation banned private entities from requiring proof of vaccination, and limited when public entities can require mask mandates.

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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Cameron Sexton” by Speaker Cameron Sexton. Background Photo “COVID-19 Vaccine” by
Braňo.