Senate votes to overturn OSHA vaccine mandate

December 9, 2021

U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch voted Wednesday in support of the Congressional Review Act (CRA), Senate Joint Resolution 29, a joint congressional resolution of disapproval to formally nullify the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine mandate for private businesses. The Senate passed S.J.Res. 29 by a vote of 52-48, with all Senate Republicans voting in support, as well as Senators Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Jon Tester (D-Montana).

Senators Crapo and Risch were original co-sponsors to the CRA when introduced on November 17, 2021.

“Vaccines have historically proven to be vital to the public health goal of disease prevention," Crapo said. "We had record vaccine development, thanks to American medical ingenuity and Operation Warp Speed. However, a one-size-fits-all federal mandate on vaccines and private business practices is not a reasonable solution now -- or ever. Medical decisions are best left to patients and their doctors. I will continue to fight to ensure the federal government stays within its authorities entrusted to it by the Constitution.”

If the House of Representatives also passes the joint resolution and it is signed by the President, another rule could not be issued in “substantially the same form” as the overturned rule unless Congress authorizes it as a new law.

The CRA allows for a fast-track procedure for Congress to consider a joint resolution to overturn an agency’s rule, and requires a simple majority vote for passage.