Little joins lawsuit challenging Biden vaccine mandate

Gov. Brad Little announced Friday he joined a multistate lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14042, also known as the federal contractor vaccine mandate.

Biden’s Executive Order 14042 requires employees of federal contractors be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, 2021, with few exceptions.

“President Biden’s federal contractor vaccine mandate not only harms Idaho workers and businesses that partner with the federal government, but it forces states to implement Biden mandates that are without legal precedent. Tens of millions in university research dollars are at stake. This is coercive federal overreach, and it must be stopped,” Little said.

The Idaho Office of the State Board of Education is also party to the lawsuit on behalf of Idaho universities. The universities could lose up to $89 million in existing federal contracts, much of which involves important research.

Idaho’s participation in the suit was facilitated by Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and his office.

Georgia, Utah, Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, and West Virginia also joined the lawsuit. Florida filed a similar challenge this week.

In addition, Little wrote a letter to President Biden on Friday urging him to halt implementation of the federal contractor vaccine mandate because it harms Idaho businesses.

“Many Idaho businesses of all sizes engage in contracts with the federal government to provide products and services that ensure our country can function properly. Now, business owners who pursued the American dream and worked to fill important needs for our nation are being coerced into policing your vaccine mandates,” Governor Little wrote. “Some of these Idaho contractors have been in longstanding business relationships with the federal government, and changing their contracts midstream forces them to choose between losing their employees or giving up their business. It is just plain wrong.”