Wyoming readying legal challenge to Biden’s vaccine mandate

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Attorney General Bridget Hill are readying a likely legal challenge to the Biden administration’s pending vaccine mandate for private businesses, the governor's office said Wednesday.

President Joe Biden last month announced plans requiring private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccinations or weekly testing. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is still in the rule-making process for the mandate, which will impact an estimated 80 million workers.

Following the Biden administration’s announcement, Gordon said that his office would explore possible legal and legislative options to combat what he characterized as “federal overreach.”

The governor’s office Wednesday reiterated that it continues “to prepare the state’s legal challenge.”

“Four weeks ago, when the President issued his announcement regarding vaccine mandates, I immediately instructed Attorney General Hill to prepare for legal action to oppose this unconstitutional overreach,” Gordon said in a statement. “Attorney General Hill has begun that mission and is continuing to strengthen alliances, improve potential arguments, and consider appropriate strategies.”

Twenty-seven Republican-led states have vowed to challenge the Biden administration’s mandate once it becomes effective.

Hill was also among a coalition of 24 attorneys general who sent a letter to Biden questioning the proposed vaccine mandate’s details as well as its constitutionality.

“This coalition of Attorneys General is well-prepared to fight the Biden Administration in courts when the time is right, and I am committed to using every tool available to us to oppose federal rules, regulations, and standards whenever they overreach,” Gordon said.

“We are prepared to act promptly once these mandates are finally issued,” the governor added. “Wyoming will not stand idly by to see any erosion of the constitutional rights afforded our citizens and their industries.”