Democracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion How blocking Biden’s vaccine mandate would be a Supreme Court gift to Trump

By
Editorial writer and columnist|
January 8, 2022 at 12:55 p.m. EST
An artist's sketch depicts lawyer Scott Keller making an argument before the Supreme Court on Jan. 7 on behalf of more than two dozen business groups seeking an immediate order to halt the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for large U.S. companies. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)

When Donald Trump took office five years ago, White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon vowed that the new president would wage an unending battle for the “deconstruction of the administrative state.”

The Supreme Court’s apparent readiness to block President Biden’s vaccine mandate for large companies, which will otherwise go into effect Monday, underscores the likelihood that Trump’s legacy, by remaking the judiciary, will include declawing the federal bureaucracy and hollowing out its regulatory authorities.