Two dozen state AGs have signed on to a letter to Biden challenging the mandate – specifically those from South Carolina, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
"We're obviously preparing for what the president said he wanted to do, which seems to be clearly beyond his authority," Attorney General Dave Yost (R-Ohio) told the "Washington Watch with Tony Perkins" program on Thursday. "It's important to note that we don't have a regulation yet, so we don't have anything to bring to court to sue about, [and] you can't sue over a press release."
That being said, Yost suspects that there are "multiple grounds that could be raised here, starting with the fact that Congress writes the laws, not the president."
During a recent televised address, President Biden said federal employees must be vaccinated. Biden then went on to say this:
"I'm announcing that the Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees that together employ over 80 million workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week. Some of the biggest companies are already requiring this."
Yost explained that the president does not get to govern by dictate.
"Beyond that, health is not a power that belongs to the federal government at all," said the Ohio AG. "Throughout our history, health issues have been considered to be part of the police power. That belongs to the states and not the federal government."
Arizona's attorney general has already filed a lawsuit to invalidate President Biden's efforts.
