Supreme Court prepared to end ‘administrative state’

In its recent ruling on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) “vaccine mandate,” the U.S. Supreme Court signaled it was ready to remake how the federal government functions.

Vaccine mandate

In striking down OSHA’s vaccine mandate, the Court skirted the death-dealing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and focused instead on the agency’s statutory authority to issue regulations requiring a series of responses to the pandemic, including (but not limited to) a vaccine mandate.

The issues resolved by the Court was whether Congress could delegate to OSHA the authority to issue such sweeping emergency temporary standards and, if it could, did it do so in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and the U.S. Constitution.

The Court first ruled it had doubts Congress could delegate to an agency the power to issue regulations that would have such a significant effect on 84 million workers. And even if Congress could delegate the authority, it would have to do so with unambiguous clarity, and the Court held it did not.

Thus, even though the OSH Act contemplated emergency responses to emergency situations, the Court ruled OSHA went too far, and it would not defer to the health and safety agency’s expertise or its response.

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