拜登政府继续辩称，根据联邦采购法，其联邦承包商的COVID-19疫苗要求是合法的，该法律允许政府采取行动以确保“经济有效”的合同制度，政府律师在1月份的法律简介中说。。18向亚特兰大联邦上诉法院。它正在考虑2021年12月7日的政府上诉，即美国地方法院法官（也是该市）的裁决，即该授权是非法的，因为它施加了公共卫生法规。

A group of states and the相关的建筑商和承包商(ABC) had argued to the lower court against the mandate issued by President Joe Biden last September as an executive order.

亚特兰大上诉法院在1月5日由辛辛那提上诉法院小组诉讼之后，在2-1的裁决中，肯塔基州联邦法官认为该政府超越了其界限。他的裁决是基于三个州对拜登秩序的挑战，仅在肯塔基州，俄亥俄州和田纳西州停止了裁决，直到确定案件的案情为止。

但是辛辛那提法院首席法官R. Guy Cole是持不同政见者，他说，拜登秩序通过减少Covid-19的差异来促进经济和效率，“这将降低工人缺席，降低劳动力成本并提高所在地承包商和分包商的效率。新利18备用官网登录透明

Mandate Support

根据科尔的观点，“国会显然旨在授予总统直接和广泛的权威，以涉及整个政府的更大的行政和管理问题。”该命令也是有效的公共卫生目标的事实并不意味着it exceeds the President’s authority under the law, he said.

Under the executive order, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) was amended in September to include a COVID-19 safety clause for future contracts as of the mandate's effective date in November until they are renewed or extended. Existing contracts can be modified if both parties agree. The order also requires contractor workers to wear masks and maintain physical distance.

The federal Office of Management and Budget said that just as private businesses concluded that vaccination, masking, and physical distancing requirements "will make their operations more efficient and competitive in the market, the vaccine requirement will do the same for economy and efficiency in federal contracting.”

OMB还表示，减少缺勤将超过与取代未接种式员工相关的任何费用。

美国司法部律师告诉亚特兰大上诉法院，延迟执行任务将导致联邦合同履行的生产力损失，从计划延迟，工作缺勤和医疗保健费用为生病，孤立或隔离的工人。新利18备用官网登录

大法官的论点

Department lawyers noted that between March 2020 and February 2021, the pandemic cost $138 billion in lost work hours among full time private sector U.S employees. The Government Accountability Office said in the first six months of the pandemic, that the US Energy Dept. alone spent more than $550 million reimbursing contractors for COVID-19-related paid leave. They also noted vaccine mandate success at United Airlines and Tyson Foods, which had more than 99% and 96% of their respective workforces comply.

Justice lawyers said that just as the US Supreme Court recently concluded, in ruling on a vaccine mandate applying to certain health care workers, that the Executive Branch may “impose conditions of participation on recipients of Medicare and Medicaid [funding] that includes a vaccination requirement,” the court should uphold the same vaccination requirement as a condition of participating in federal contracting.

The lower court in Atlanta did not take issue with the connection between required vaccine and the statutory goal of an economical and efficient federal contracting system, but said the executive order exceeded the President’s authority because Congress did not authorize using the 1949 procurement law to impose vaccination requirements.

政府律师辩称，要求联邦承包商劳动力疫苗接种以应对大流行紧急状态，“是国会委托总统做出的决定的类型。”

The lower court said the executive order violates “federalism principles,” but the Justice Dept. noted that federal contracting does not involve states, so the executive order does not raise federalism concerns.

The order “reflects the President’s decision as part of his power to manage public funds to impose contract terms on companies that elect to do business with the federal government,” Justice lawyers said.

下级法院还发现，遵循该命令的合规成本是“无法弥补的”。新利18备用官网登录

但是亚特兰大上诉法院此前裁定，只有在经济状况如此惨淡以至于他们将实体倒闭的情况下，合规成本才能是无法弥补的。新利18备用官网登录政府律师说：“大多数原告是主权国家或其机构，都不面临经济破产的威胁。”

相关的建筑商和承包商

Justice attorneys said that despite ABC noting vaccination compliance costs for its member firms generally, nothing in the record suggests that any members are about to be forced out of business by them.

律师说，下级法院只发现了两家ABC成员公司因授权而造成了伤害，这是通过以此为基础授予全国联邦禁令的。

Attorneys also said ABC did not produce evidence to substantiate its claim that member firms would be forced to undertake mass firings without an injunction. The group's claim that “some employees of some employers might quit rather than be vaccinated” is speculative and does not show an irreparable injury is likely, the government said.

OMB said there is “no systematic evidence” that the mandate would lead some workers to quit or that it would be likely to occur among employees of federal contractors. The experience of private companies is to the contrary, the government lawyers said, noting a Kaiser Family Foundation study that found only “1% of all adults say they left a job because an employer required them to get vaccinated.”

政府律师说：“大流行对政府向美国人民提供基本服务的能力构成了复杂而动态的挑战。对这项基本政府工作的危害远远超过了原告对伤害的投机性主张。”

Briefs from mandate challengers that sued in the Atlanta district court, including several states and ABC, are due to the appellate court next month.

Others Weigh In

Meanwhile, case observers speculate how the US Supreme Court could view the contractor mandate, if it were to agree to a case review, following the justicesruling earlier this month为了制止美国职业安全与健康管理局疫苗的要求，所有100个或更多的雇主。

“在某些方面，政府可能会争辩说，它具有广泛的权力，可以通过联邦合同（包括疫苗授权）来调节收到拨款的资金。但是，法院尚未被说服，联邦财产和行政服务法允许政府允许政府允许政府允许该法院。华盛顿特区律师事务所Holland＆Hart的合伙人肖恩·肯尼迪（Shaun Kennedy）说：“施加了如此盛大的疫苗。”“其他法院评论说，联邦承包商要求提出其他宪法和法律考虑，例如与第十修正案冲突，”该州的权利管理。

While the federal contractor vaccine mandate is halted as it winds through its legal path, the contractors affected by it still raise questions.

Firms "are still concerned about particulars on compliance and still being able to focus on important work for federal clients," says Steve Hall, government affairs vice president for the American Council of Engineering Cos., which includes a number of federal contractors. "This industry performs some pretty essential work for the government, in some cases, specialized or classified."

Hall refers to remaining uncertainties in the broad contractor mandate that may apply to an ACEC member's employees who are not involved on a federal project. "The policy is uncertain about waivers in certain situations," he says. "ACEC is focusing on the practical side, how to implement something that our members can abide by and still do work."

霍尔说，法律挑战“向政府提出了微调的机会”命令合规性。霍尔说，ACEC不是诉讼的一方，“正试图与机构合作，以量身定制[授权]实施。”

根据与ACEC成员公司高管的对话，他说，公司“正在尽最大努力鼓励员工接种疫苗”，并补充说“少于10％”的员工不是。

"Members want to follow the rules," says Hall. :"Give them clear rules to follow." He acknowledges "adjustments" made to the contractor mandate guidance since last year following ACEC discussions with staff from the White House, OMB and the federal Office of Procurement Policy.