Texas has joined four other states and seven private companies to sue the Biden administration over a COVID-19 vaccine rule for large private employers.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the Friday morning.
The new U.S. Department of Labor rule that includes either mandating vaccines for employees or carrying out a testing program. The mandate will be implemented through the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
In a statement, Paxton called the mandate 鈥渁 breathtaking abuse of federal power."
鈥淭his 鈥榮tandard' is flatly unconstitutional,鈥� Paxton said. 鈥淏ottom line: Biden's new mandate is bad policy and bad law, and I'm asking the Court to strike it down.鈥�
The petition was filed directly with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, widely viewed as the most conservative appeals court in the country. It鈥檚 formally directed at the U.S. Labor Department, Labor Secretary Martin Walsh, OSHA, and Douglas Parker, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.
Paxton said his next step will be to file a motion for stay, laying out the arguments for the appeals court to halt implementation of the mandate.
The rule, which Biden first announced in September, would would apply to an estimated 84 million workers nationwide. If an employee opts to get vaccinated, they would be forced to do so no later than Jan. 4, 2022.
This is a developing story and will be updated.