The Senate on Thursday defeated a Republican amendment that attempted to block President Joe Biden\u2019s announced mandate for private businesses with 100 or more workers.
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\nThe Senate on Thursday defeated a Republican amendment that attempted to block President Joe Biden\u2019s announced mandate for private businesses with 100 or more workers. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) introduced the amendment ( pdf) to a government funding measure, blocking the usage of federal money for COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Republicans and Democrats split 50-50 on the vote, falling short of the 60 votes required to pass the amendment. \u201cMy wife and I got the vaccine. My parents got the vaccine and they\u2019re waiting to get their booster. But whether to receive it is a personal choice between individuals and their doctor, not mandated via unconstitutional executive actions that the administration recently acknowledged they didn\u2019t have authority to put in place,\u201d Marshall said in support of his amendment. But Marshall argued that the Biden administration\u2019s mandates\u2014details of which have yet to be disclosed\u2014are tantamount to federal overreach and would significantly weaken the economy by fining private businesses. The vaccine mandate, he said, is merely an attempt by the federal government to acquire more power and isn\u2019t about dealing with the pandemic. \u201cNo precedent exists in American history for punishing private employers who don\u2019t enforce government vaccination edicts,\u201d he said. \u201cAstonishingly, House Democrats included fines up to $700,000 on businesses that have unvaccinated employees as a way to pay for their out of control spending.\u201d In a statement to The Epoch Times on Wednesday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed the agency is working on the rule, which would require businesses to \u201censure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work.\u201d Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior member of the Democrat caucus, on Thursday, said he wouldn\u2019t support the amendment, noting the 700,000 Americans who have been reported to have died from COVID-19. \u201cDrive down the mall and look at the flags by the Washington Monument,\u201d Leahy said in reference to a display of flags marking their deaths. The amendment \u201cweakens one of our strongest tools to get people safely through this crisis,\u201d he added. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has frequently encouraged people to get vaccinated and received his booster shot earlier this week, voted in favor of Marshall\u2019s amendment on Thursday. Several Republican-led states have promised to sue the Biden administration as soon as OSHA releases the rule. Biden announced the mandate, which would apply to tens of millions of workers at private businesses, on Sept.9, as well as other mandates requiring vaccinations for all federal workers, federal contractors, and healthcare workers who are employed at facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding.<\/p>\n