Supreme Court Starts Hearing Arguments on Biden’s Vaccine Mandates, Testing Rules

On Friday, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in two challenges to the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates for private businesses and health care workers.

One case is a challenge to the Biden administration’s plan for a vaccine-or-test mandate for private businesses with over 100 employees. The other is a challenge to a federal vaccine mandate for health care workers at facilities that receive government funding. The court's conservative majority reportedly expressed skepticism about the federal government's authority to enact such requirements during Friday's arguments, and voiced support for the issue being left up to states. The court's liberal minority, meanwhile, argued in favor of empowering the federal government to combat COVID-19 through vaccine rules and mandates. This marks the first time the nation's high court has weighed in on Biden's controversial vaccine mandates.

The hearings were covered prominently across the spectrum, with outlets such as CNN (Left bias) and Fox News (Right bias) offering live updates. A report from National Review (Right bias) described how liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor expressed confusion about the distinction between federal authority and state police powers. Reports on all sides highlighted how conservative Justice Samuel Alito hinted that the court may request extra time to consider the cases.