Eleven US states have launched legal actions to challenge a new federal vaccine requirement for workers at companies with more than 100 employees, a key component of Joe Biden’s Covid response plan.
“This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise,” said a court filing by Missouri’s attorney general, Eric Schmitt, one of several Republicans vying for the state’s open Senate seat next year, according to the Associated Press.
His lawsuit, filed in the St Louis-based 8th US circuit court of appeals argues that the authority to compel vaccinations rests with the states, not the federal government.
The regulations, imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, require companies with more than 100 workers to require all staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19, or to be tested weekly and wear masks while working.
Failure to comply with the rules, due to come into force from 4 January, could lead to penalties of up to $14,000 per violation.
Missouri was joined in the lawsuit by the Republican attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
The office of Iowa’s Democrat attorney general, Tom Miller, also joined in the suit, along with several private, nonprofit and religious employers.
The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way out of the pandemic.