SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joined 23 other attorneys general in warning of potential litigation over President Biden's vaccine mandates for businesses.
The letter calls the idea "disastrous and counterproductive." It threatens a lawsuit if the president does not reverse course on plans to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing at businesses with over 100 employees, utilizing federal workplace safety rules.
"I am committed to continuing leading with my colleagues to push back and fight this mandate all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary," Reyes said in a statement on Thursday. "Both employers and employees in Utah, with unprecedented fervor, have flooded my office with messages of dire concern and extreme opposition to the proposed mandate. I firmly agree."
A similar scene played out in the Utah State Legislature's Health & Human Services Interim Committee where dozens packed the meeting to demand lawmakers pass bills banning businesses from mandating the vaccine. They worried about the impact to small businesses — even though they are not a part of the federal mandate.
Some lawmakers fumed about the mandate, but ultimately took no action on the request on Wednesday. Any bill might not appear until the 2022 legislative session that begins in January.
Read the letter from the 24 attorneys general here: