As Republican governors mull a legal challenge to the recent vaccine mandate issued by President Joe Biden, Governor Tate Reeves joined Fox Business this morning and called the forthcoming rule “an attack on working-class Americans.”
Announced last week, the president is enlisting the assistance of the Department of Labor to draft and issue an ‘Emergency Temporary Standard’ that will require private businesses employing 100+ individuals to mandate vaccinations. The rule would require any remaining unvaccinated employees to show a negative test on at least a weekly basis.
Speaking with Fox’s Stuart Varney, Governor Reeves reiterated his belief that the idea behind the rule is unconstitutional.
“This is one person trying to place an edict on all Americans without it going through the Legislative Branch, without it going through the legislative democracy that America was founded upon,” he said.
The governor also called the action a “tyrannical-type move” by President Biden and said that such a mandate should only be adopted by Congress. He also criticized the president for seemingly flip-flopping on issuing a federal vaccine mandate.
The rule is estimated to impact around 80 million Americans.
“I’m concerned about making individual Americans choose between getting a shot in their arm and providing for their families,” Governor Reeves said.
He also expressed his belief that the mandate will further exacerbate the labor shortage across the country.
“It is hard for small business owners to hire the necessary people to get their products to market. It’s hard for small businesses to hire the necessary people to provide the services that they provide, and this is just going to make it even more difficult,” the governor said.
This concern is shared by the National Federation of Independent Businesses as outlined in a statement issued by VP of federal government relations Kevin Kuhlman.
“The businesses that could be subject to the costly and burdensome ETS include many small businesses the President’s Plan noted ‘create two-thirds of net new jobs and employ nearly half of America’s private workforce.’ Small businesses face daily challenges from pandemic requirements, locating qualified workers, rampant inflation, and supply chain disruptions. Small business owners and their employees want to operate in a safe and healthy manner that allows them to stay open. Additional mandates, enforcement, and penalties will further threaten the fragile small business recovery,” he said.
Several Republican governors and the Republican National Committee have indicated their intent to challenge the mandate’s implementation.
Watch the full interview below:
