The White House on Thursday urged businesses to comply with President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandate, despite a court order to suspend enforcement of the rule.
“Our message to businesses right now is to move forward with measures that will make their workplaces safer and protect their workforces from COVID-19,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during the daily briefing.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) suspended the implementation of the federal vaccine mandate on Thursday after a court of appeals ordered them to “take no steps to implement or enforce the mandate until further court order.”
“While OSHA remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation,” OSHA said in a statement.
The legal challenge to the ruling is headed to the Sixth Circuit Court in Ohio.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis predicted Thursday in a press conference that legal challenges to the rule would be successful.
“The ultimate result of that OSHA lawsuit in the sixth circuit is that thing is going to crash and burn– is going down, that’s for sure,” he said at a press conference in Brandon, Florida.
The rule requires businesses with over 100 employees to implement a vaccine mandate or subject employees to weekly testing for the coronavirus.
Psaki said that the White House would continue to operate on the January 4th compliance deadline, projecting confidence from the White House that the rule would pass legal scrutiny.
“The Department of Justice is vigorously defending the emergency temporary standard in court and we are confident in OSHA’s authority,” she said.