Posted on 12/08/21
| News Source: The Hill
The Senate on Wednesday voted to nix President Biden’s vaccine mandate for larger businesses, handing Republicans a symbolic win.
Senators voted 52-48 on the resolution, which needed a simple majority to be approved. Democratic Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) voted with Republicans, giving it enough support to be sent to the House.
The resolution faces an uphill path in the House, where Republicans aren’t able to use a similar fast-track process to force a vote over the objections of Democratic leadership. Instead, Republicans are hoping to get the simple majority needed to force a vote through a discharge petition, which will require support from a handful of House Democrats.
But Republicans view Wednesday’s Senate vote as a significant win, and it’s the first time they’ve been able to use the Congressional Review Act to successfully get a resolution targeting a Biden rule through the Senate.
The rule, published through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), orders businesses with at least 100 employees to require their workers to get vaccinated or undergo regular testing by Jan. 4.
But Republicans believe that it constitutes federal government overreach and violates American workers’ civil liberties.
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who spearheaded the GOP resolution, said that Americans should get vaccinated “unless they have a good reason,” but called the vaccine requirement an “ultimatum” that has “mainstream America scared.”