WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott led Senators Joni Ernst, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Cynthia Lummis, John Barrasso and Dan Sullivan in introducing the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard Clarification Act. Following the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down President Joe Biden’s overreaching and unconstitutional vaccine mandate on private businesses, this legislation prevents further unlawful, sweeping mandates by clarifying the true authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s emergency temporary standards. 

Senator Rick Scott said, “Hardworking Americans and job creators across the country watched in disgust last year as the Biden administration attempted to misuse a federal agency to impose an unconstitutional vaccine mandate on private businesses. While we are thankful that the Supreme Court confirmed what my colleagues and I have been saying for months - that Joe Biden has no authority to tell Americans how to live their life and what health care decisions they must make - further action is clearly needed to make sure this never happens again. Today, I'm proud to lead my colleagues to introduce legislation that clarifies OSHA’s authority and prevents Joe Biden from using this agency as a political weapon. American jobs are on the line and we must do everything possible to protect our families and their ability to make a living.”

Senator Marco Rubio said, “President Biden turned OSHA into a weapon to force America to do what he wanted them to do. Our new bill will prevent this from ever happening again.”

Senator Rand Paul said, “President Biden’s command that workers submit to his will under the guise of an ‘emergency’ has been continually abused during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our bill ensures this misuse of authority by Biden and OSHA will never happen again.”

Senator Cynthia Lummis said, “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s politicization of workplace hazard standards is damaging to the very people OSHA is meant to protect: American workers. The people of Wyoming make medical decisions after consulting with their doctor, not the federal government. They should not lose their jobs over personal healthcare decisions. I’m proud to join Senator Rick Scott to rein in OSHA’s regulatory authority.”

Senator Dan Sullivan said, “The threat of President Biden’s vaccine mandate on private businesses created a great deal of uncertainty and grief for our job creators and the thousands of hard-working Americans and Alaskans whose jobs were on the line. While I’m thankful the Supreme Court intervened with an injunction on President Biden’s clearly unconstitutional mandate on private employers, Congress has a duty now to check the President’s power in this area, which is not unlimited, in order to prevent this kind of havoc from ever again being unleashed on our economy. The decision of whether or not to get vaccinated is a right of the individual, not a President or the federal government, and our legislation will codify that commonsense principle, consistent with the ruling of our nation’s highest court.”

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