A federal judge has slapped down President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for teachers, and has warned that the unconstitutional mandate is both undemocratic and un-American.
“If the Executive branch is allowed to usurp the power of the Legislative branch to make laws, then this country is no longer a democracy — it is a monarchy,” U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty write in his ruling on Saturday.
Judge Doughty wrote that the Biden administration illegally bypassed Congress when ordering that workers in Head Start programs be vaccinated by Jan. 31 and that students 2 years or older be masked when indoors.
Headlineusa.com reports: Republican attorneys general who were among the 24 states involved in the lawsuit praised Doughty’s decision.
“This victory will help ensure that numerous Head Start programs will continue to operate rather than have to fire teachers and cut back services to children,” Alabama Attorney General Marshall said in a news release. “And this win will forestall the nonsensical and damaging practice of forcing masks on two-year-olds.”
It was not immediately clear whether the federal government would appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Doughty’s ruling is similar to a Friday ruling in which a federal judge also blocked the Head Start mandate in Texas.
Saturday’s ruling affects Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming and West Virginia.