The Justice Department on Nov. 23 filed an emergency court motion seeking to lift an order halting the Biden administration's vaccine-or-test mandate for private employers, according to Politico.
The Justice Department argues in its motion, filed with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, that delaying the rule would have significant health and economic impacts.
"Simply put, delaying the Standard would likely cost many lives per day, in addition to large numbers of hospitalizations, other serious health effects, and tremendous expenses," states the government's motion. "That is a confluence of harms of the highest order."
The requirements, which apply to businesses with 100 or more employees, were issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in early November and are scheduled to take effect Jan. 4.
On Nov. 12, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a stay blocking the requirements. The consolidated case was transferred to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals after nearly three dozen lawsuits challenging the rule were filed in several federal appeals courts.