Alaska and nine other states have filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors, in an announcement made on Friday by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Under the mandate, a private business would be required to force its employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19 before it could be awarded a federal contract or have an existing contract with the federal government extended or renewed. President Biden issued the mandate in a September 9th executive order, and contractors have till December to comply.
Gov. Dunleavy addressed vaccine mandates in a podcast w/host Dave Stieren:
“Again, I am not supportive of vaccine mandates. I think they are wrong and, again, if we see a vaccine mandate come down from the federal government, we are prepared to file suit to stop that.”
Attorney General Treg Taylor joined the lawsuit on behalf of Alaska. The filing maintains that the contractor rule is ambiguous and inconsistent with other regulations and existing laws. There is confusion about whether businesses with existing federal contracts would be subject to the mandate and how broadly the requirement would be applied across companies. Also, the lawsuit argues that President Biden overstepped his legal authority when he issued the order.
The lawsuit states that the vaccine mandate is unconstitutional, arguing, “Defendants, through their vaccine mandate, have exercised power far beyond what was delegated to the federal government by constitutional mandate or congressional action. Neither Article II of the U.S. Constitution nor any act of Congress authorizes defendants to implement their vaccine mandate. The power to impose vaccine mandates, to the extent that any such power exists, is a power reserved to the States.”
Dunleavy also said:
“I think the best route for Alaska is to continue to have dialogue, treat each other with respect, don’t force each other to do things against our will, I think that’s problematic. Believing that we can stop this dead in its tracks, I think is a mistake. That we can eliminate it, I think is a mistake. That mandates on the people of Alaska and this country, I believe is a mistake. There are businesses that may believe, for example, that their employees really do and should get the vaccine, but I think these general mandates, all it’s going to do is its going to split the country. It’s going to cause problems and it’s not going to eliminate this virus.”
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