Lynn Fitch joins 20 other AGs to challenge federal contractor vaccine mandate

JACKSON, Miss. (WLOX) - Attorney General Lynn Fitch and 20 other attorneys general from across the country are challenging the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contract employees in a letter addressed to the president.

On Sept. 9, 2021, President Joe Biden announced a sweeping vaccine mandate including the requirement that any contractor who does business with the federal government must be vaccinated.

“I have serious concerns about the president’s federal contractor vaccine mandate, and those concerns have become graver as the various task forces and agencies in the federal bureaucracy have weighed in with guidance on implementing that mandate,” Fitch said. “Forcing people to vaccinate or lose their jobs is a flawed premise - that decision belongs to each individual - and the mismanaged execution of that idea demonstrates how utterly unworkable it is as a national policy.”

Since the mandate was announced, employees from Ingalls Shipbuilding and Stennis Space Center have held different protests against the mandate, citing the lack of choice in the matter.

“(W)e strongly urge you to instruct the Task Force and federal agencies to halt any efforts to implement the federal contractor mandate. All citizens - including federal contractors - have the right to make their own decision about whether to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” wrote the attorneys general. “At the very least, you should provide additional guidance addressing the ambiguities and inconsistencies in the mandate, ensure that guidance is applied uniformly, and allow agencies and contractors additional time to comply.”

The letter was sent by the attorneys general for Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

You can read the full letter here.