Florida sues Biden administration over vaccine mandates for federal contractors

The state of Florida has sued the Biden administration, NASA, and more over what it says are "unlawful" COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal contractors, Fox News reports.

The mandate, the suit argues, interferes with the state's employment policies and threatens the state's booming economy. It also alleges that President Joe Biden doesn't have the authority to issue the rule — which reportedly violates procurement law.

What are the details?

A portion of the lawsuit — which was filed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody — states, "Because the government's unlawful vaccine requirement seeks to interfere with Florida's employment policies and threaten Florida with economic harm and the loss of federal contracts, the State seeks relief from this Court."

The Biden-sanctioned mandate states that all federal contractors must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8. The administration also mandated that all businesses with more than 100 employees mandate COVID-19 vaccinations.

The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa on Thursday, adds that NASA and others that frequently contract with the state have "current contractual relationships with Florida, and is and will continue to seek to impose the Biden administration's unlawful requirements in Florida."

"Because the government's unlawful vaccine requirement seeks to interfere with Florida's employment policies and threaten Florida with economic harm and the loss of federal contracts, the State seeks relief from this Court," the lawsuit adds.

The suit notes the the administration is "relying on a statute" that authorizes itself to "'prescribe policies and directives that the president considers necessary to carry out' the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA) of 1949" to "compel millions of Americans who work for government contractors to receive a COVID-19 vaccine."

The suit adds, "Nothing in that statute authorizes such a radical intrusion on the personal autonomy of American workers — especially, as is the case here, when many of those workers are officials of a sovereign state."

DeSantis and Moody argue that even if FPASA authorized the mandate, the Biden administration's requirements "would still be unlawful because the manner in which they were enacted violates fundamental principles of administrative and procurement law."

The suit asks the court to "hold unlawful and set aside" the executive order, issue both preliminary and permanent injunctive relief from the executive order's enforcement, issue relief declaring the Biden administration's actions unlawful, award the state legal costs and attorney's fees, and any other award beyond relief that the court considers to be equitable and just.