Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has sued federal officials including President Biden, seeking to invalidate the new federal mandate that contractors doing business with the federal government require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The federal contractor mandate, announced by the president on Sept. 9th and initially implemented Sept. 30th, requires all federal contractors to employ only vaccinated employees or risk losing future federal contracts. Schmidt stated that this risk has coerced several major Kansas employers that rely on federal contracts, such as research universities and defense contractors, to threaten their unvaccinated employees with discipline potentially including termination.
The lawsuit filed late Friday asks the court to declare the federal contractor mandate illegal and to block its implementation. The suit was filed by seven states, including Kansas.
Earlier this week, Schmidt joined 20 other attorneys general in a letter to the president raising legal and practical concerns about the federal contractor mandate and asking him to withdraw it. Yesterday’s lawsuit follows through on those concerns.
The lawsuit can be viewed at here.
