Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb directed state officials on Thursday to work on a lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden's federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate, calling it an "outreach of the government's role."
Holcomb released a statement Thursday instructing the Indiana Department of Labor to join forces with the Attorney General, working on a lawsuit that would put to question the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's emergency temporary standard mandating tens of millions of workers to receive the COVID vaccine or submit to weekly testing.
“I direct the Indiana Department of Labor to work with the Attorney General on a lawsuit challenging the federal government regarding the OSHA ETS," Holcomb said in a statement. "This is an overreach of the government’s role in serving and protecting Hoosiers. While I agree that the vaccine is the tool that will best protect against COVID-19, this federal government approach is unprecedented and will bring about harmful, unintended consequences in the supply chain and the workforce.”
The announcement came after the new mandate took effect Thursday, requiring Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated against COVID prior to Jan. 4, 2022 or get tested for the virus weekly.
The OSHA said companies that fail to comply could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.
The new requirements, which were first previewed by President Joe Biden in September, will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated.
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