CNN Huffs Conservative Justices Skeptical of Vaccine Mandate Overreach

In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate on employers with 100 or more employees through OSHA was unconstitutional (although a mixed 5-4 allowed the mandate on healthcare workers to proceed). The just decision riled the feathers for those who live on. CNN NewsroomThe story was breaking, and conservatives began to be irritated at federal power.

The first sampling from the majority opinion offered to CNN viewers came from co-host Victor Blackwell reading, “It is not our role to weigh such tradeoffs. In our system of government, that is the responsibility of those chosen by the people through democratic processes.” He immediately wanted to know how the justices came down on either side.

A few moments later, co-host Alisyn Camerota tacitly admitted conservatives weren’t against democracy by saying the ruling was “not surprising” because “as we all would expect, in terms of conservatives thinking that it should be up to elected officials and states.”

Elie Honig, senior legal analyst, agreed. “Yeah, Alisyn, in a way, listening to the argument it felt like a throwback to the old days when conservatives were skeptical of federal power and more in favor of states’ rights and liberals were more in favor of sort of the regulatory state and agency action,” he said.

Noting what Blackwell read, Honig added: “This really should be up to Congress. The proper role of congress is to say, okay, executive branch, whether it’s OSHA or any other agency, we hereby empower you to take a certain action or a certain type of action.”

But he caught himself and countered by recalling how “OSHA does have the power to issue certain regulations if there is a, quote, ‘grave danger’” and that “At this point, the liberal justices stated, “Well, it’s a very serious threat.” This is a once-in-a-century pandemic, but the conservative justices plainly seemed to disagree.”

Jessica Schneider, Justice correspondent, chimed in with a comment to help Honig. “And you know, guys, you know, The conservative justices have been extremely skeptical of the agency power of these justices.,” she chided.

And she followed up by huffing about the conservative justices previously striking down the CDC’s eviction moratorium:

This was evident when, just months back, the Biden administration sought to maintain the eviction ban, citing both the pandemic and the urgent pandemic conditions. Just a few months back, the justices in the case struck down that decision. They ruled that the CDC didn’t have power to issue an eviction ban.

This is in keeping with what was seen just months before from conservative justices during the pandemic.

As the segment was ended, Blackwell’s parting words on the subject lamented how the ruling was, “It is a serious blow to the Biden strategy.”

It’s unclear if it was a hopeful note or an argument to the justices to just allow the mandate anyway, but he concluded with: “We should point out that many of the largest companies in this country have already enacted vaccine mandates that cover tens of millions of Americans.”

CNN’s whining about conservative skepticism of federal power was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from IHOP and Applebee’s. You can find their contact information here.

Below is the transcript. Click “expand to read:

CNN Newsroom
January 13, 2022
Eastern: 2:38.53 p.m.

(…)

VICTOR BLACKWELL: All right, we’re just getting this as we learn more from this decision from the court, “It is not our role to weigh such tradeoffs. In our system of government, that is the responsibility of those chosen by the people through democratic processes.” That from the majority.

Jessica, I’m going to come back and talk with you. Although this is an early stage, it is still breaking. But do we know whether this decision was made ideologically, at 6-3, these? This is the first major decision regarding the mandate for large companies.

JESSICASCHNEIDER : You know what, I must check the count of votes.

BLACKWELL: That’s okay.

SCHNEIDER However, it looks like the decision was 5-4. Victor, I’ll be back.

BLACKWELL: Understood. It was because of the uncertainty about where Chief Justice Roberts would be on this.

SCHNEIDER: Right.

BLACKWELL “As he frequently is in these instances — the questions as to which side will he fall.

SCHNEIDER : Yes, and he did — Victor. During these arguments regarding OSHA (the larger mandate for employers with more than 100 employees), he tried to weigh the arguments from both sides but, when it came down to it, he appeared more inclined to oppose that mandate.

He spoke about how Congress would need to tell OSHA explicitly that such a thing was possible. This would be the first time that OSHA has done this, he stated. It’s something that we haven’t seen before. OSHA will implement this type of mandate.

He did, however, express his skepticism and then tried to comprehend the other side.

ALISYN CAMERATO Yes, that’s what I meant, and Elie is, as you pointed out, no surprise. As you’d expect it to be, this is the result of conservatives believing that elected officials or states should have final say.

ELIE HONIG (Yes, Alisyn): Listening to Alisyn’s argument felt like a throwback back to when conservatives were less skeptical about federal power, and were more supportive of state rights, while liberals were more supportive of agency and regulatory action. It was evident in justices’ questions.

Victor’s quote which he just displayed on the screen reads, I believe, that the Supreme Court is expressing concern about, and it should not be left up to non-elected OSHA officials or federal agencies. It should all be done by Congress. It is the proper function of Congress to declare, “Okay, executive branch,” whether that’s OSHA and any other agency. We hereby give you power to take one or more actions.

Now, OSHA does have the power to issue certain regulations if there is a, quote, “grave danger,” and the liberal justices at this argument said, well, of course, this is a grave danger. The conservative justices seemed to be in agreement that this is a pandemic of one-in-20-century.

SCHNEIDER

It was just months ago that the Biden administration attempted to keep the eviction moratorium in place, citing the pandemic and emergency conditions. Just a few months back, the justices in the case struck down that decision. They ruled that the CDC didn’t have power to issue an eviction ban.

This is consistent with the actions of these conservative justices a few months back during the pandemic.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. It is certainly a setback to the Biden strategy. Not to be overlooked, many large companies have already passed vaccine mandates that will protect tens or millions of Americans.