FreedomWorks’ Bill of the Month for December 2021: S. J. Res. 29 and H. J. Res. 65, the Resolution to Repeal OSHA’s Unlawful Vaccine Mandate

Our Constitution establishes three co-equal branches of government, each with a unique and separate role. The legislature’s responsibility is to write laws, the executive’s responsibility is to execute laws, and the judiciary’s responsibility is to interpret laws. Unfortunately, this basic civics lesson seems lost on President Joe Biden.

Despite his campaign promises, President Biden is choosing to govern not as a moderate unifier but rather as a far-left radical. His decision to mandate vaccines for tens of millions of Americans is nothing short of gross executive overreach. It is far past time that Congress reclaims its constitutional role as legislator and stands up against this unlawful and invasive vaccine mandate.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Fred Keller (PA-12) are doing just that by introducing a joint resolution to nullify President Biden’s vaccine mandate. Every member of the Republican conference in both chambers is currently supporting S. J. Res. 29 and H. J. Res. 65, the joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of ‘‘COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard’’. The resolution was fast-tracked through the Senate and passed with a bipartisan majority on December 8th.

The Details

• On September 9th, President Joe Biden announced that his administration would mandate the COVID-19 vaccine and testing for millions of hardworking Americans. After a long wait, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published the mandate, set to take full effect on January 4th, 2022.
• The Congressional Review Act allows members of Congress to sponsor a joint resolution to disprove a rule promulgated by an executive branch agency. When 20 calendar days have passed since the rule’s publication and a petition has been signed by 30 or more senators, the joint resolution cannot be filibustered.
• This legislation would disapprove the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to “COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard Rulemaking,” a common-sense measure that all lawmakers should be on record supporting.
• If this legislation is passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, OSHA’s rule would not go into effect.

Why it Matters

The decision of whether or not to take the COVID-19 vaccine should be left up to the individual, not unelected bureaucrats in the Biden administration. This joint resolution provides lawmakers with an opportunity to go on record against President Biden’s executive overreach and nullify his unlawful vaccine mandate.

Currently, all 50 Republican Senators are signed on in support of this legislation and 207 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. We hope to see more members cosponsor this common-sense legislation moving forward. FreedomWorks is including support for the joint resolution to nullify President Biden’s unlawful vaccine mandate on our 2021 scorecard.