Jeffrey Toobin writes the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, as part of its larger project to rein in the power of the federal government, appears ready to rule against two Biden administration vaccine mandates.
Two main lawyers — Ohio Solicitor General Benjamin Flowers and Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill — argued Friday that the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate and testing requirements to prevent the spread of Covid-19 were overly broad, unnecessary and generally outrageous. Flowers and Murrill appeared before the justices remotely — because at least one of them tested positive for Covid-19 on a PCR test required to enter the court. As always, it’s perilous to make predictions about the outcome of Supreme Court cases based on the justices’ comments at oral argument, but the six conservatives on the court Friday gave pretty clear hints that they are leaning against the administration. The first case presented was a challenge to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that says large employers must require workers to be vaccinated or to undergo frequent testing. Justice Samuel Alito’s main question gave a pretty good sense of how things went for the Biden team: he asked how quickly the court could rule in favor of the challengers. Parts of the Biden rule are supposed to go into effect next week, and Alito suggested that the court issue a brief stay to prevent that possibility from taking place.
