The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily halted President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on Saturday after receiving pushback from GOP and Texas officials, court documents show.
This comes just one day after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over the mandate, which requires large businesses to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for their employees by Jan. 4. Those who choose to remain unvaccinated by the deadline must undergo weekly testing, per the mandate.
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Health workers at facilities that take part in Medicare and Medicaid are also required to be fully vaccinated by the deadline, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Court documents state that the temporary halt was granted after the petitions gave “cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues” with the Biden Administration’s mandate.
President Biden is expected to respond to the motion no later than 5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 8.
If the federal mandate stands, it will void part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on any entities in Texas to issue vaccine mandates. However, the governor’s order can still apply to other entities in the state, the Tribune reports.
We’ll bring more updates to this story as they become available.