Gov 10-28-21
Today, Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill and 20 Attorneys General from across the country wrote to President Biden challenging his Administration’s evolving mandatory vaccination requirement for federal contractors.
The Attorneys General noted that the mandate stands on shaky legal ground, is supported by inconsistent federal directives, and requires compliance on an unworkable timeline in the midst of a supply-chain crisis. They urged the President to halt implementation of the mandate.
“I thank General Hill for her work to defend the interests of Wyoming people in the courts,” Governor Gordon said. “Her team is also preparing to challenge the federal overreach related to Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards and federal vaccine mandates on top of this work to push back against federal contracts being insidiously used to extend federal intrusion ever more into our lives.”
On September 9, through Executive Order 14042, President Biden directed federal departments and agencies to include a clause in contracts requiring all contractors and subcontractors to ensure adequate COVID Safety protocols. On September 24, pursuant to the Biden Order, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance imposing a vaccination mandate that is more expansive than the President’s Executive Order, is internally inconsistent, and is at odds with actions taken elsewhere by the federal government.
“[W]e strongly urge you to instruct the Task Force and federal agencies to halt any efforts to implement the federal contractor mandate. All citizens – including federal contractors – have the right to make their own decision about whether to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” wrote the Attorneys General.
As various agencies have begun to issue their implementing memoranda and guidance, contractors have faced a series of conflicting directives. Instead of assistance from the Administration in making sense of the inconsistencies, contractors have faced short deadlines coupled with the threat of being blacklisted or losing contracts for non-compliance.
The letter was sent by the Attorneys General for Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
A copy of the letter may be found here.