Senate Passes Measure Nullifying Biden’s Vaccine Mandate On Large Companies

The Senate on Wednesday passed a resolution that would block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for large private companies from taking place after two Democrats joined Republicans in backing the bill.

The joint resolution, brought by Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun, passed 52-48 with the support of Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana. It passed under the Congressional Review Act, a law that empowers the minority party in the Senate to force a vote of disapproval on a federal rule.

“I’m not crazy about mandates,” Tester told reporters Tuesday.

The vote is similar to one forced Thursday by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. Democrats unanimously voted against it, however, arguing that adopting it would have forced a costly government shutdown. That vote came days after a federal court blocked the mandate from going into effect, which led to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ultimately suspending its implementation.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Lee said that senators had a duty to “assert clearly, unambiguously and swiftly that these mandates are unconstitutional, illegal and morally in defensible.”