A Wisconsin Republican took to the House floor Wednesday to blast President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for certain employers, calling it a “gross grab of power” and implying that the federal government should not be telling Americans what to put in their bodies.
“It is such a gross grab of power to think you can tell other people what you have to do with your own body,” said Rep. Glenn Grothman.
“My office has received many calls from people objecting to the [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] rules, to the related [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] rules related to employees of hospitals,” Grothman said.
“It amazes me the number of our articulate doctors and nurses, other employees out there who have good reasons not to take the vaccine. Whether their doctors have told them, ‘Don’t take it because you already have antibodies, you have too many antibodies. The vaccine is gonna make you sick,'” he added. Whether it’s doctors who tell their patients, ‘You better not take the vaccine. Your cancer’s in remission. The vaccine can weaken you and bring it back.’
“Again and again and again, it appalls me that ‘Dr. Biden’ decides to weigh in and knows what is better for these people than what their own doctors do, not to mention there’s plenty of things on the internet which may be true – even though they try to take them down and keep this in the dark – indicating that some people, very articulate people believe the vaccines are not for you anyway, and there are other ways to deal with the problem,” the Wisconsin Republican continued.
“It is such a gross grab of power to think you can tell other people what you have to do with your own body. I sure hope America stands up and says no to this kind of nurse hatred and arrogance,” he said.
That said, OSHA announced Wednesday that the agency was suspending enforcement of its vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees, citing pending federal lawsuits and court cases that have already gone against the Biden administration.
“The court ordered that OSHA ‘take no steps to implement or enforce’ the [Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS)] ‘until further court order,'” OSHA said on its website, a reference to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling late last week.
The agency noted further that it “remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies.”
“OSHA is complying with the 5th Circuit’s stay,” said a Department of Labor official, according to Fox News. “OSHA is not enforcing or implementing the reg – so they are not engaging or offering compliance assistance.”
Originally, OSHA set a compliance deadline of Jan. 4, after which businesses not in compliance could be heavily fined.
The Justice Department has already announced that it will “vigorously defend” the mandate. The case has been assigned to the Ohi0-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court for adjudication after lawsuits were filed in several district courts around the country. Many legal observers think the case will eventually wind up before the Supreme Court.
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Originally from Indiana, she now calls sunny Florida her home.
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