INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – The state of Indiana is moving ahead with multiple lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s order that forces most people who work to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Attorney General Todd Rokita announced the latest lawsuit yesterday. Rokita plans to sue to stop the requirement that private businesses with more than 100 employees require their workers to get the shot. Rokita says that order way oversteps the president’s authority (full statement below)
Governor Holcomb says the state is also planning to challenge the order that federal contractors get vaccinated and the order that anyone who works in a hospital or nursing home get the shot as well. The governor says he supports the vaccine, but can’t support the orders which could cost people their jobs.
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Attorney General Todd Rokita’s full statement:
Attorney General Todd Rokita announced today he is filing legal actions against President Joe Biden to stop unlawful vaccine mandates the administration is imposing on employers and employees across the country.
“We are suing the president because he’s got to stop running roughshod over Americans’ liberties,” Attorney General Rokita said. “It is regrettable that we must take him to court to make him uphold his oath, but it’s necessary to protect our state institutions and fellow citizens from his unlawful schemes.”
Attorney General Rokita and the attorneys general of Louisiana and Mississippi are filing a lawsuit today asking a federal court to overturn the Biden administration’s unlawful COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.
This particular mandate — issued by executive order with no congressional authorization — affects one-fifth of the American workforce directly and the entire economy indirectly.
The mandate usurps state authority in a core area of state sovereignty — public health — and does so by relying on federal procurement laws that have nothing to do with health.
In addition, Attorney General Rokita soon will file additional lawsuits aimed at stopping two other Biden vaccine mandates. These are: 1) an Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) rule forcing all employers with 100 or more workers to require all employees to be vaccinated (or produce weekly negative COVID-19 tests) and 2) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rule requiring vaccination of all health care workers at facilities participating in Medicare and/or Medicaid.
These two mandates together cover at least two-thirds of all U.S. workers.
“Hoosiers and all Americans need effective leadership from President Biden that shows respect for their rights,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Such leadership requires an approach quite different from imposing these intrusive federal mandates that tilt toward tyranny.”