Thursday's mixed decision by the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates on larger private businesses, but it also allowed s federal healthcare worker mandate to go forward.
Now, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., has introduced a bill that could tap the brakes on the latter measure, too.
Biggs, backed by 24 House GOP co-sponsors, has introduced the No Mandates Act, which would prohibit any federal agency or entity that receives federal funds from issuing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
He made the move shortly after Thursday's Supreme Court decision.
''The American people have had enough of big government and leftist corporations telling them how to live their lives,'' Biggs wrote in a statement announcing the bill.
''Americans' hard-earned tax dollars bailed out these businesses and now these businesses are trying to dictate the healthcare decisions of their customers.''
The bill would also require any entity that received COVID-19 relief funds to repay those funds if it sought to impose a vaccine mandate.
''If we don’t stop this now, President Biden and the far left will do everything in their power to impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates and control every aspect of our everyday lives, from restaurants to stores to banks to flights,'' Biggs' statement added. ''We need to put an end to these mandates and allow the American people to make their own healthcare decisions.
''It's time to emphasize freedom and personal responsibility.''
The ultimate fate of the proposal is murky at this point. Democrats hold the majority in the House, and Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris represents the tie-breaking vote on legislation in which the vote is split 50-50.
However, Republicans have lately been looking ahead to the midterm elections, hoping dissatisfactoin with the Biden administration and Democrat leadership will enable the GOP to retake control of one or both chambers. In such a case, passage of a measure like Biggs' would seem more likely.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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