re: Supreme Court Blocks Biden's Vaccine Mandate

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Wednesday are talking osha or cms? We’re both involved?

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Both OSHA and CMS (which is Medicare’s administrative arm) are members of the executive branch. The executive branch can’t write laws, the legislative branch (Congress) does.

The executive branch can write regulations- which are supposed to be guidance to citizens of when they will or will not enforce the laws passed by Congress. The executive branch cannot invent a new rule, that it then goes to enforce.

The issue with these mandates are whether the executive branch was enforcing some rule written by Congress when it wrote these mandates.

The SCOTUS held that when Congress passed thr OSHA law, it didn’t give the executive branch (thru the dept of labor) the statutory authority to pass write regulations that address general public health; only occupational health issue. Covid risks are not unique to the workplace. You can get Covid anywhere. Therefore, SCOTUS found so the executive branch did not have the authority to make the vaccine mandatory. Accordingly, the OSHA Rule is invalid and just bc a business has more than 100 employees, it is NOT required to mandate that its employees get the shot.

CMS is the entity that implements Medicare. It issued a rule applicable to entities that get money from Medicare, regardless of size. CMS has the authority to enact regulations that further Medicare’s statutory purpose. The Medicare statute has a provision indicating that its administrator in the executive branch should make sure patient health and safety is protected.

CMS claims its mandate was within its authority bc congress said it CMS could make sure that it protects health of patients In Medicare facilities.

In order for ANY reg to be valid, there has to be a showing that it would meet the statutory purpose. In the case of thr CMS reg, the concern would be - would the reg protect patients. If so, the reg is valid. if not, it is invalid.

I say that theres no evidence that the vax protects patients, bc there’s no evidence that it prevents transmission. Therefore, I think there was no statutory authority to enact rule by Executive branch requiring vax. Indefatigable thinks that the hunch that the vax protects patients is enough. The SCOTUS did not rely on either of our viewpoints, ai don’t think- but I do think it should have.