Greg Abbott governor of state of Texas is once more standing in the way of the Biden administration. After President Joe Biden announced a vaccine mandate in September, companies that employ more than 100 people and federal workers must be vaccinated against Covid.
Greg Abbott goes after Biden’s vaccine mandate
However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has opted to ban vaccine mandates via executive order. This is creating an interesting situation when it comes to the rule of law.
According to the U.S. Constitution, federal law has precedence over state law. For many experts, federal contractors do not have the choice and will have to get vaccinated.
However, the matter has not been resolved because the Biden vaccine mandate is expected to be challenged in court. Moreover, the rule is still being finalized.
So, there is a chance that states like Texas will prevail in avoiding the mandate. Abbott says Texans can object to the mandate based on their personal conscience.
While the concept is quite vague, Texas has already beaten the Biden administration in court on other issues like immigration.
Interestingly, some big businesses have sided with the administration and have already implemented the vaccine requirement. Employees, who refused to take the vaccine, were fired in many instances.
The governor of Texas chose to go against the Biden administration, but some other red states have found a middle ground.
Some red states governors opt for a different approach
Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican from West Virginia, said vaccine exemptions already exist at the federal level. Justice encourages businesses in his state to follow federal law.
Arkansas has put in place two new laws that will allow residents to opt out of the mandate. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said while he did not support the bills, he let them become law because he opposes Biden’s vaccination mandate.
However, Hutchinson said he will continue to encourage his state to get vaccinated.
He also said that he finds state mandates counter-productive.
Hutchinson added that Biden’s mandate already allows people to forgo getting vaccinated if they agree to weekly testing.
Hutchinson’s point of view illustrates why it is difficult to reject the mandate outright like Greg Abbott is doing.
Some have argued that politics might be at play because the vaccine mandate is quite popular, and it makes little sense not to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
Is this about politics?
The Biden administration is convinced if more Americans get vaccinated, the country will return to normal. However, critics argue that he is pushing vaccines that have not been thoroughly tested.
President Biden has experienced a considerable drop in approval rating over the summer when coronavirus cases rose because of the delta variant.
Experts say that the president’s success depends on how fast the country gets Covid-19 under control. The Democrats want to retain power in Washington in 2022 during the midterms.
Greg Abbott, who is running for reelection next year, needs to show his Republican base that he can stand tall against a Democratic president.
While both sides may want to score points, scientists say politicians will have to get serious to end the pandemic.
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