Tennessee Attorney General joins call challenging President’s Covid vaccine plan

Tennessee Republican lawmakers also calling for a special session of the legislature to respond

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WDEF) – Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III is the latest Republican to take on President Biden’s Covid vaccination plan.

He is one of 24 Republican state attorneys general to sign a letter raising concerns over the Presidents plan.

That includes those in Alabama and Georgia.

The letter raises concerns about the legality of his vaccination and testing requirements.

The President wants to mandate all private companies with at least 100 employees to require vaccines or proof of negative tests.

“I would encourage everyone eligible, in consultation with a doctor, to get a COVID vaccination. It is one effective way out of this pandemic,” said General Slatery. “However, this vaccine-or-test mandate appears to be an unprecedented expansion of federal power and fails to consider the steps individuals, employers, and our state have already made.”

Their specific concerns, in their words:

• Requires vaccination or testing regardless of the risk of COVID-19 exposure at any given job site and disregards what an employer and employees have done to reduce the risk.
• Contradicts recent and repeated communication from The White House and OSHA that masking and other measures are sufficient.
• Ignores that COVID-19 is not a hazard specific to the workplace.
• Could violate the principle that Congress may not delegate its legislative authority to a federal agency.
• Undermines the federalist structure of our government which gives States—not the federal government—primary responsibility to protect the health and safety of citizens.
• Fails to consider religious liberty, free speech, and bodily autonomy concerns.

The letter follows calls back in Tennessee by some Republican lawmakers for a special session on the President’s plan.

They rallied in Nashville on Wednesday saying they need to respond.

It is unclear what a state legislature can do about the President’s plan.

In Tennessee, it takes the Governor or two thirds of both the House and Senate to call a special session of the legislature.