“Real liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own, whether in respect of his person or his property, regardless of the injury that may be done to others.” — Justice John Marshall Harlan, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts (in which SCOTUS ruled 7-2 that vaccine mandates were constitutional)
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
As the battle over the new Biden mandates explodes, here are six quick takes:
(1) Biden made no attempt to hide his frustration. The administration’s dramatic about-face on the question of mandates reflects its belief that the Delta variant poses an existential threat to the nation’s health, the economic recovery, and the fate of his presidency. Yesterday, he said:
This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. And it’s caused by the fact that despite America having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot.
And to make matters worse, there are elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19. Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they’re ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from COVID in their communities. This is totally unacceptable.
Uses a new OSHA regulation to require all companies with more than 100 employees to ensure that their employees are either vaccinated or tested weekly. (So technically, private sector employees are not mandated to get the vaccine. They retain a choice between getting the shot and getting tested.)
Requires vaccinations for all federal workers and for millions of contractors who work for the federal government.
Requires vaccinations for 17 million health care workers at hospitals and medical facilities that receive Medicaid or Medicare dollars.
(2) Republicans are going to go all-in railing against the new rules. As Axios reports this morning: “Top Republicans are calling for a public uprising to protest President Biden's broad vaccine mandates, eight months after more than 500 people stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overturn the election.”
"BIDEN IS AN AUTHORITARIAN," a banner on Fox declared. "BIDEN DECLARES WAR ON MILLIONS OF AMERICANS," yet another Fox banner read. "FULL TOTALITARIAN," Breitbart's homepage splash screamed. The far-right, but mass consumed, Gateway Pundit ripped the "Biden regime" for its "tyrannical mandates." The Federalist described it as a "fascist move." On and on it went..
And, of course, the leading GOP senate candidate in Ohio:
(4) The vaccine mandates themselves are probably constitutional, but there aregenuine questions about the legal authority for the orders to private businesses. Expect immediate legal challenges and the possibility the courts will shut down at least some of the Biden mandates.
(5) The mandates may not change hearts and minds or persuade the recalcitrant, but they will change behavior. More people will get the shots.
And finally…
(6) Despite the murky legal picture, the new mandates will save lives… at least in the short run. So, this is the pro-life position, right?
Unfortunate consequence of this speech — by forcing American vaccine holdouts to choose between vaccine and job — will be to harden opposition to vaccinations.
Maggie Haberman @maggieNYT