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Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Jon Tester voted with the Senate Republicans on Wednesday to rescind a vaccine and testing mandate on private businesses with 100 or more employees.
The two Democrats' decision may end up being a symbolic act of defiance, however, as it remains unlikely the mandate introduced by President Joe Biden will be repealed through congressional action.
The Senate voted 52-48 to rescind the requirement using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress to nullify regulations imposed by a variety of federal agencies.
The resolution will now go to the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, where it could be dead on arrival.
House Republicans are likely to join their Senate colleagues in supporting the measure but a large majority of Democrats will oppose it.
It is also possible the House may not hold a vote on the matter.
Nonetheless, the close numbers in the House mean it is possible for the resolution to succeed. If just four Democrats side with Republicans, the measure will be sent to the president's desk.
Under the terms of the CRA, the president must sign the joint resolution in order to rescind the regulation.
The president also has the option to veto the resolution. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki indicated on Tuesday that Biden would do so if the measure passes the House.
"If it comes to the president's desk, he will veto it," Psaki said. "And we've got a new variant, and cases are rising. The president has been clear we'll use every tool to protect the American people, and we hope others will join us in that effort."
The mandate orders all businesses with 100 or more employees to require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or receive weekly tests, but it has already been put on hold by the courts.
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered a halt to implementation of the mandate and more than two dozen lawsuits have been filed against the business mandate, as well as other vaccine requirements introduced by the administration.
The Department of Justice asked that litigation on the mandate be consolidated before a single court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit was chosen by random selection.
The Biden administration has asked the Sixth Circuit to reinstate the mandate and the court is expected to rule no earlier than December 10.
Whatever that court decides, it is likely the vaccine mandate will end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps sometime early next year.
While the Senate's vote on Wednesday was a rebuke to Biden's mandate policy, the mandate's future will ultimately be decided in the courts.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more