This isn’t creepy in the least. And adds another layer to the unconstitutionality of Sleepy Joe’s mandate
Surgeon general: US to ‘monitor’ whether vaccine exemptions being used properly
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has advised that the Biden administration will “monitor” to ensure no one abuses COVID-19 vaccine exemptions.
President Biden last week announced a mandate that required any company with at least 100 employees to mandate its workforce. The only way to avoid the mandate is to claim an exemption on either religious or medical grounds.
Some critics argue that the exemptions allow for simple abuse, but Murthy insists the administration will ensure that does not happen.
“Unfortunately, as a country, we have experience in dealing with exemptions, but we’ve got to be vigilant there and make sure that people are using them, you know, in the spirit that they’re intended and not abusing them or asking for exemptions when they don’t apply,” Murthy told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “That’s an area that we continue to monitor in the days and weeks ahead.”
There are really only two exemptions: medical and religious. Is the Surgeon General claiming that all exemptions must be reported to Los Federales, be that his office or OSHA, the latter being the agency that is reportedly going to pass the emergency rule, for Approval? We all know how speedy most government agencies are. And what if you’re turned down? Will there be measures in place to appeal? Do you get to discuss this with whomever turns you down? This all seems rather intrusive in one’s life, does it not, the very definition of Big Government? Seems rather Fascist.
A more important question in all this is from where does OSHA, and the Surgeon General if involved, get the statutory authority to require Citizens to prove their religion for exemption? There’s two simple answers: either it comes from a law passed by Congress or they are making this mandate rule with zero authority. If the latter, then it’s easy to shoot down in a lawsuit, especially since it is rather arbitrary in picking 100+ as the size. If it is the former, then they run into a little thing called the 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Literally the first passage makes it so that Congress cannot make a law prohibiting the free exercise thereof. It was important enough for those who wrote the Bill of Rights to make this first. They did not like how the Church of England was involved in the running of government and their lives, that they weren’t free to practice their own religious beliefs.
As such, requiring Citizens to prove their religion, and potentially denying them their religious beliefs, violates the Constitution. If OSHA’s authority comes from a law, then it’s the letter of the 1st being violated. And, sure, many could be scamming the government, but, the government has not authority to say otherwise. Most states have this in their Constitutions, as well. Precedent, previous rulings, they matter not at all in the face of the actual text.
Plus, this is very creepy in an authoritarian sort of way.
(Fox News) However, Murthy insists the vaccine mandate is legally sound.
“Certainly this wouldn’t have been put forward if the president or the administration didn’t believe that it was an appropriate legal measure to take, and I believe it is so based on the authority that Congress has actually given under the OSHA Act,” Murthy argued on ABC’s “This Week.”
“This is an appropriate action, we believe, and it certainly, from a public health perspective, most importantly, will help keep workers safe and that will ultimately help our economy as well,” he said.
Murthy tried to stress that the mandate is focused “on areas where the federal government has legal authority to act.”
“This is the next step … in a series of steps that have to be taken to help protect our country from COVID-19 and help us get through this pandemic,” Murthy said.
Boy howdy, the Sleepy Joe admin had Murthy all over trying to defend this, eh? Perhaps he should have been asked what the exact authority is? And, if that’s the case, why it doesn’t violate the 1st.
Read: Surgeon General To Monitor People Claiming Exemptions From Vaccination Mandate »