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Senate Votes to Roll Back OSHA Vaccination/Testing Mandate

The Vote, However, Is Largely Symbolic

On December 8, a bipartisan majority of U.S. Senators (all Republicans and Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.)) passed an AGC-backed resolution to repeal the OSHA vaccination/testing mandate (OSHA emergency temporary standard (ETS)). While this vote deals a symbolic political blow to President Biden, it is highly unlikely to have any practical impact on the OSHA ETS. This vote came about via the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which provides Congress an opportunity to repeal regulations with simple majority votes in the House and Senate that are either: (1) signed into law by the president or (2) vetoed by the president and that veto is overridden by two-thirds majorities of both chambers of Congress. Assuming that the House were to pass the same resolution, President Biden would veto it and it would then die, as there is no realistic chance that Congress could override that veto.

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