Texas judge temporarily blocks government from enforcing Biden vaccine mandate for federal workers

The ruling is not a final on the policy, but blocks the mandate from being enforced while the litigation is pending
Joe Biden, White House, Jan. 19, 2022

A federal judge in Texas on Friday temporarily blocked the federal government from enforcing President Biden's vaccine mandate for federal employees.

The ruling is not a final judgment on the policy. However, it blocks the mandate from being enforced while the litigation is pending, according to Fox News

Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, said Biden didn't have the authority to order the mandate "with the stroke of a pen and without input from Congress."

The Biden administration recently ordered two vaccine mandates – one for large businesses that the Supreme Court blocked, and another for health-care workers that the high court allowed to go into effect. 

Brown's ruling against the administration was for yet another mandate, which essentially applies to federal employees and federal contractors, also according to Fox News

The administration immediately filed a notice that it plans to appeal the ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.