Vax mandate for vendors?

OPM not enforcing

      An appeals court has ordered that President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors can go forward in nearly all states, but White House officials responded that they are continuing to hold off on enforcing the mandate.

      The vaccine mandate was initiated in Executive Order 14042 in September 2021. Seven states--AL, GA, ID, KS, SC, UT and WV--and the Associated Builders and Contractors trade group sought and received a nationwide injunction blocking the vaccine order.

      The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled in August that the lower court erred in blocking the mandate nationwide. On Oct. 18, the appeals court released its judgment allowing the mandate to be imposed in all but the 7 states.

      However, the Office of Management and Budget and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, in anticipation of the ruling, wrote on Oct. 14 that the vaccine mandate is not being enforced.

      “At this time agencies should not: take any steps to require covered contractors and subcontractors to come into compliance with previously issued task force guidance; or enforce any contract clauses implementing Executive Order 14042,” OMB wrote.

      In attached guidance, OMB added that “federal agency workplace safety protocols for federal buildings and federally controlled facilities still apply in all locations. Contractor employees working onsite in those facilities must still follow those federal agency workplace safety protocols.”

      OMB officials said the current guidance is meant to “allow time to develop advice and processes for meeting agencies’ obligations under Executive Order 14042 and applicable court orders.” OMB said it will develop updated guidance and an implementation timetable.

More information:
Court order: https://bit.ly/3U7uZJX
OMB guidance: https://bit.ly/3sI9x2G

(URLs in Set-Aside Alert have been shortened by the bit.ly URL shortener)

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