Statement from Attorney General Cameron on U.S. Supreme Court’s Rulings

Vaccine Mandate Cases for Large Employers, Healthcare Workers

FRANKFORT, Ky. (January 13, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers, ruling in support of the legal challenges brought by Attorney General Cameron and other states.  But the Supreme Court upheld the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers issued through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Following the Supreme Court’s opinions, Attorney General Cameron released the following statement:

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision is a victory for hundreds of thousands of large employers and their employees in Kentucky and across the nation.  These businesses feared the loss of large numbers of employees or having to permanently close their doors due to the Biden Administration’s unlawful and overbroad vaccine mandate.

We argued that OSHA does not have the authority to impose such a sweeping mandate on the American people.  The Biden Administration fought against us all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the court agreed with our legal arguments, stopping the mandate before it did irreparable harm.

We are disappointed that the court did not reach the same conclusion for the millions of healthcare workers and healthcare facilities, especially those located in rural areas, who are now facing mandatory vaccinations through a mandate from CMS.  We will always fight against the federal overreach we’ve seen displayed by the Biden Administration and will continue to stand up on behalf of Kentuckians. 

Legal challenges to the mandates for Head Start programs and federal contractors remain pending in court, and we are committed to doing what is necessary to see them through.”