Free Republic

NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 was blocked Thursday by a federal appeals court. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation to require that employees be vaccinated. The ruling from the full appeals court, 16 full-time judges at the time the case was argued, reversed an earlier ruling by a three-judge 5th Circuit panel that had upheld the vaccination requirement. Judge Andrew Oldham, nominated to the court by then-President...

NEW ORLEANS -- President Joe Biden’s requirement that all federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 was upheld Thursday by a federal appeals court. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court and ordered dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the mandate. The ruling, a rare win for the administration at the New Orleans-based appellate court, said that the federal judge didn’t have jurisdiction in the case and those challenging the requirement could have pursued administrative remedies under Civil Service law. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed to the District Court...

On December 13, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed an order issued by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, enjoining the Biden administration’s June 1 termination of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), better known as “Remain in Mexico”. The circuit court’s decision is a doozy, and I trust the Biden administration is chastened by the exercise. History of Remain in Mexico, and the Biden Administration’s Attempts to End It. In a November 4 post, I provided a full run-down of the Remain in Mexico saga...