The Daily Wire, a conservative news site, is challenging the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers by suing in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, the company announced Thursday.
The lawsuit argues the federal government violates the Constitution and federal law by requiring private employers to mandate the vaccines for their employees — or else pay for weekly testing.
“The Daily Wire will not comply with President Biden’s tyrannical vaccine mandate, and we are suing the Biden Administration to put a stop to their gross overreach,” said Jeremy Boreing, co-founder and co-CEO of the site.
“President Biden, the federal government, social media, and the establishment media have conspired to rob Americans of their freedoms in the name of public health. They have broken faith with the American people through conflicting messaging, false information, and by suppressing data and perspectives with which they disagree,” he added.
President Biden proposed the mandate in a September speech, but it was on Thursday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which applies to 84 million workers, published the rule.
It directs large companies to require employees to get vaccinated by Jan. 4, or else pay for them to get tested weekly.
Employees who are not vaccinated will also have to wear a face mask.
Under the rule, employers must also give employees paid leave for them to get the vaccines and recover from any side effects.
Employers are subject to a $14,000 fine per violation under the new federal rule.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, partner at the Dhillon Law Group representing the Daily Wire, said the federal government lacks the authority to order private employers to play a role with the vaccines.
“The Biden administration’s attempt to impose this unprecedented and unlawful federal medical mandate on the U.S. workforce without considering the public’s views is arbitrary, capricious, unsupported by the evidence, and would produce a willfully ignorant rule,” she said.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has already begun exploring legal challenges to the new rule as well, announcing he will be filing a lawsuit on Friday.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this report.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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