No images? Click here Welcome back to this week's edition of the Washington Weekly newsletter - bringing you the latest and greatest policy updates from Washington, D.C.Court Reinstates Biden’s Vaccine Policy for Businesses, Setting Up a Likely Showdown at Supreme Court A federal appeals court Friday, December 17, 2021, reinstated Biden administration rules that require many employers to ensure that their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for Covid-19. A divided panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved a stay issued by another court that had blocked the rules. The majority, in a 2-to-1 ruling, said legal challenges to the administration's vaccination-and-testing requirements were likely to fail. The ruling is a near-term boost to the White House but was immediately appealed on an emergency basis to the Supreme Court by some employers who oppose the mandate. OSHA was quick to respond to the court’s action and is moving forward with implementation. However, the agency is delaying enforcement for a short time because of the previous stay. OSHA is exercising enforcement discretion with respect to the compliance dates of the ETS. To provide employers with sufficient time to come into compliance, OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard. The requirements apply to businesses with 100 or more employees and cover roughly 84 million workers. Three Biden administration vaccination requirements have been challenged in courts around the country. One set of rules, applying to many healthcare workers, is already pending at the high court after the Biden administration on Thursday, December 16, 2021, asked the justices to reinstate the requirements as lower courts put them on hold in parts of the country. Other vaccine rules that apply to federal-government contractors could land at the Supreme Court. The Biden administration has argued its rules are legally sound and urgently needed in light of the ongoing health threats posed by the pandemic, including the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 that has led to a spike in infections. Republican officials and business owners are among the litigants who have sued the administration, arguing the rules exceed the powers of the executive branch. House Clears $2.5 Trillion Debt Ceiling Boost, Sends to BidenThe U.S. House voted Tuesday, December 14, 2021, to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, an amount intended to extend the government’s borrowing authority past next year’s congressional elections and into early 2023. The 221 to 209 vote sends the bill to President Joe Biden for his signature. The Senate earlier in the day approved the bill in a 50-49 vote with only Democrats in support. The current federal debt is $28.9 trillion, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned that the government could have difficulty meeting its obligations after Dec. 15, though outside analysts have said default could possibly be staved off into January. The resolution of the latest debt standoff came as a result of legislation Congress approved last week which included a one-time process to fast-track a debt ceiling increase by shielding it from the threat of a GOP filibuster in the 50-50 Senate and allowing it to pass with a simple majority. House Republicans lined up to oppose the debt ceiling increase, arguing it should have been tied to spending cuts aimed at eliminating annual budget deficits and paying down the debt. Congress added $480 billion to the U.S. debt ceiling in October after weeks of partisan sniping that unnerved investors. This time, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed on a process that allows the debt ceiling to be lifted without any Republicans having to vote for it. Fourteen Republicans voted to advance the one-time provision, which McConnell said would force Democrats to “own” the debt ceiling increase. The bill’s passage sets up another showdown on the debt ceiling as soon as November 2022. If Democrats lose their majority in the midterm elections they may try to raise the ceiling again to avoid Republicans holding it hostage for spending cuts once Republicans take over. They would be able to do so using a fast-track budget reconciliation procedure. Biden Shot-or-Test Rule to Get Standard Three-Judge ReviewA federal appeals court in Cincinnati will allow a three-judge panel hear the legal challenge to the Biden administration’s contentious Covid-19 shot-or-test rule, leaving open the possibility that a Democratic appointee-dominated tribunal rules on that emergency regulation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, rejected petitions seeking initial review of the measure by the court’s full compliment of active-status judges, which is composed of 11 Republican appointees and five selected by Democratic presidents. Twenty-seven states with Republican attorneys general, the Republican National Committee, and other challengers sought full court review. The three-judge panel will be drawn from the Sixth Circuit’s roster of 28 active- and senior-status judges, which includes 20 jurists nominated by GOP presidents. The partisan composition of the panel likely will be an important factor in whether the shot-or-test measure survives judicial review, given the political differences in views on the severity of the pandemic, the importance of vaccine mandates, and the proper scope of administrative agency power. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration finalized its shot-or-test rule last month, which it said it was issuing under its power to set temporary regulations necessary to address workplace hazards that present a “grave danger.” The rule—requiring employers to mandate that their workers get vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested regularly—applies to employers with at least 100 workers. Manchin Remains a Reconciliation Wild CardDemocratic negotiators continue to discuss several unresolved issues in their tax-and-spend agenda, including what to do about the $10,000 deduction cap on state and local tax payments. Even if they reach a breakthrough on the SALT cap and other open questions, it isn’t yet clear if the budget reconciliation package will have the support it needs in the Senate. With every Republican expected to oppose the legislation, all 50 Senate Democrats must vote in favor for the bill to pass. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Monday, December 13, 2021, didn’t close the door on passing the legislation by the end of this year, but he raised several concerns about it. While Manchin maintains he would support a spending package of about $1.7 trillion, he said Monday that he is increasingly worried about the number of temporary programs included in the legislation. Several programs, including the expanded child tax credit, were pared back to lower the bill’s overall cost over the 10-year budget window congressional scorekeepers use to analyze the fiscal impact of legislation. The House Ways and Means Committee’s initial reconciliation proposal included a four-year extension of the more generous child tax credit. The version that passed the House last month includes only a one-year extension, though advocates intend to keep fighting to make the policy permanent. Manchin said the use of short-term provisions is a way to hide their true cost over the 10-year budget window. He has long said he is concerned about the deficit and inflation. “Whatever Congress is considering doing, we should do it within the limits of what we can afford,” Manchin told reporters Monday. The Congressional Budget Office, in response to a request by Senate Republicans, recently estimated that the legislation would add trillions to the deficit if new and expanded programs were eventually made permanent without paying for them. Top Court Backs Health Worker Vaccine RuleA divided Supreme Court left in force New York’s requirement that health-care workers be vaccinated against Covid-19, refusing to order exemptions for 20 providers who say they object to the shot on religious grounds. The rebuff, which came with no explanation, follows a similar rejection in a Maine case in October. Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented, with Gorsuch criticizing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) for comments she made defending the lack of a religious exemption. Hochul three months ago said people with religious objections to vaccine rules “aren’t listening to God and what God wants.” The orders come amid a cultural and political firestorm over Covid-19 vaccine requirements. Republican-led states including Florida are moving to fine companies unless they let workers opt out, pushing back against President Joe Biden’s plan to require private employers to make sure workers are vaccinated or face federal occupational safety penalties. A federal appeals court has put the Biden rules on hold, and that issue is likely to reach the Supreme Court soon as well. New York is among a handful of states that mandate vaccinations for health-care workers without allowing any religion-based exemption. New York’s mandate, issued Aug. 26 by the Department of Health, requires health-care workers to be vaccinated if they are in close contact with patients, residents or other workers. The rule exempts people who have a medical reason for not getting vaccinated. Biden-States Shot Clash Traps Businesses in BetweenThe pushback against President Joe Biden’s workplace vaccine requirements continues to play out, not only via lawsuits but also in state legislation aimed at limiting employers’ ability to mandate Covid-19 immunization. Ohio and South Carolina lawmakers could be close to joining nearly a dozen other states that have set legal limits for on-the-job shot requirements. Among those, the Montana and Tennessee legislatures have banned vaccine mandates as a condition of employment, while counterparts from Florida to North Dakota have required employers to offer broad exemptions or accommodations for employees. The quickly changing legal landscape—with states passing new restrictions while courts consider whether a trio of federal vaccine policies can take effect—only adds to the turmoil for employers trying to operate safe workplaces during the pandemic. Federal courts have temporarily blocked enforcement of the Biden administration’s vaccine requirements applying to federal contractors and health-care employers, plus the shot-or-test mandate for other large employers. On the other side of the coin, a handful of state and local governments are requiring some private-sector employers to mandate vaccines, such as the policy announced last week in New York City. A South Carolina bill that passed the state’s House Dec. 10 would require employers to grant exemptions to any on-the-job vaccine mandate and stipulate that a worker fired over a vaccine requirement would be eligible for unemployment benefits. Likewise, an Ohio bill that cleared that state’s House on Nov. 18 would require employers to grant broad exemptions, including for “reasons of personal conscience,” going beyond the religious and disability accommodations required by federal law. Each bill still needs passage by its state’s Senate. A wide-ranging Arizona budget bill that included broad exemptions for workplace vaccine mandates was struck down in court for violating legislative rules that limit bills to a single subject, but the state’s legislature may try to revive that effort next year. Employers in 11 states already need to navigate limits on workplace vaccine mandates—Alabama, Arkansas (taking effect in January), Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia—and the federal mandates aren’t in force pending the final outcome of a slew of lawsuits challenging them. If you have not yet participated in our grassroots campaigns, but would like to take action to oppose the PRO Act or oppose the harmful tax hikes in the American Job’s Plan, click the Take Action tab above now.
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