Federal courts have serially rebuked President Biden's vaccine mandates for federal employees, federal contractors, and employers of over 100.  But the mandates are not merely a legal disaster; they are becoming a political disaster as well.

Yesterday, two Democrat senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and John Tester of Montana, joined all 50 Republicans to vote to repeal the OSHA mandate for employers of over 100 workers.  Under the terms of the Congressional Review Act, simple majorities in the House and Senate can repeal regulations issued by the Executive Branch.  The New York Times downplayed it as "symbolic," but Politico forthrightly characterized it as a "rebuke."

It has been generally assumed that the House's narrow Democrat majority will heed the speaker's push and vote down the bill.  But there is ample evidence that Democrats are scared of the mandate's political fallout.  The Politico West Wing Playbook writes:

Three months ago, as California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM was turning around his fate in the state's recall election, many Democrats came to the conclusion that they'd struck political gold. Mandates to get the Covid-19 vaccine weren't just extremely valuable public health policy but they were electorally powerful too.

Now, moderate and frontline members of the party are singing a different tune.

In recent comments, several high-profile Democrats have stated their opposition to vaccine mandates, specifically applied to private businesses. The most recent Democratic lawmaker to voice her concern was Michigan Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER. Once considered to be Biden's vice president, Whitmer said she opposes mandates, citing the impact on the state's workforce — as Michigan grapples with upticks in cases and residents are split on whether or not to get the vaccine.

"We're an employer too, the state of Michigan is," Whitmer said on Monday, according to the Daily News in Greenville. "I know if that mandate happens, we're going to lose state employees. That's why I haven't proposed a mandate at the state level. Some states have. We have not, we're waiting to see what happens in court." (snip)

Gov. PHIL MURPHY (D-.N.J.), shortly before an unexpectedly close re-election win, shied away from embracing a strict vaccine mandate for teachers and other public workers. Gov. KATHY HOCHUL (D-N.Y.), who is running for election after taking over for disgraced former Gov. ANDREW CUOMO (D-N.Y.), has stated her opposition to a "broad-based mandate for all private-sector workers in New York."

Vaccine mandates have denuded many police agencies of experienced manpower, and with rising crime a growing concern, vaccine mandates may take a further political hit on the basis of crime.  The same story goes for supply chain disruptions and inflation because vaccine mandates drive down supply by driving workers out of key jobs necessary to move goods.

If the House should join the Senate in voting out the OSHA regulation (still considered unlikely), it would be a massive loss of face for Biden and the vaccine Nazis.  But even if it never comes to a vote, more Democrats are going to be running for cover as the foolishness and unconstitutionality of the policy become clearer day by day.

Photo credit: spencerbdavis, Pixabay license.

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