Reeves expects state to file suit in response to federal vaccine mandates by ‘end of the week’
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Gov. Tate Reeves said he expects the state to file a suit by the end of the week opposing federal vaccine mandates.
“Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates are one of the most shocking attacks on personal liberty we have seen in this country during my lifetime,” he said in a post on social media. “I am a strong supporter of the COVID vaccines and commend the Trump administration’s efforts to develop (them). I even got it on Facebook Live to demonstrate my confidence.”
“These federal mandates, however, threaten every Mississippian’s individual liberties. They are nothing short of tyranny.”
Reeves went on to say that he is working with Attorney General Lynn Fitch and expects “that we will have a lawsuit filed against the Biden administration by the end of the week to stop this ridiculous overreach.”
The governor said he also has instructed “every branch of government I control to work in support of this suit and cause.”
At the same time, Reeves is declaring victory, saying efforts to push back on mandates are paying off.
He points to new rules handed down by the administration Monday governing federal contractors’ enforcement of the vaccine mandate.
The provisions give federal contractors more leeway in ensuring compliance and on allowing exemptions for workers who refuse the vaccination, according to a Nov. 1 CNBC article.
The new rules come weeks after the president issued an executive order mandating that employees who work for companies that receive federal contracts to get the shots.
Initially, the White House ordered all of those employees to be vaccinated by December 8.
However, the administration has backtracked on that deadline, saying that employers only need to show by that date that they are “making a good faith effort to ensure employees are getting vaccinated and have plans in place to ensure masking and social distancing policies are followed,” CNBC states.
Meanwhile, the new guidance leaves it up to employers to determine whether employees have a religious belief or medical condition that would prevent them from getting shots or wearing a facemask.
Reeves says the rules are a step in the right direction but maintains the mandates represent a massive federal overreach.
“The new guidance creates the opportunity for broad discretion by employers: they can protect their workers from this unlawful mandate,” Reeves wrote on Twitter. “That is what every Mississippi institution should do. While we fight the federal mandates in the courts, the new guidance opens the door for Mississippi workers to keep their jobs if you have a sincerely held conviction.”
Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.
