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合同的“经济和高效”制度。。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。

一群国家和Associated Builders and Contractors（ABC）曾向下级法院提出反对去年9月乔·拜登（Joe Biden）总统颁发的任务命令作为行政命令。

亚特兰大上诉法院在1月5日由辛辛那提上诉法院小组举行的诉讼涉及争端之后，该小组在2-1的裁决中维持了肯塔基联邦法官，该法官认为该政府超越了其范围。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，直到案件的案情决定为止。

But Cincinnati appellate court Chief Judge R. Guy Cole, the dissenter, said that the Biden order promotes economy and efficiency by reducing COVID-19 spread, “which will decrease worker absence, reduce labor costs and improve efficiency of contractors and subcontractors at sites.”

授权支持

According to Cole's opinion, “Congress clearly intended to grant the President direct and broad-ranging authority over those larger administrative and management issues that involve the Government as a whole." The fact that the order also is a valid public health objective does not mean it exceeds the President’s authority under the law, he said.

根据行政命令，联邦收购法规（FAR）于9月进行了修改，以纳入11月份授权生效日期的COVID-19安全条款，直到将其续订或扩展为止。如果双方同意，则可以修改现有合同。该订单还要求承包商工人戴口罩并保持身体距离。

联邦管理和预算办公室表示，正如私人企业得出结论，疫苗接种，掩盖和物理距离的要求都将使他们的运营在市场上更有效和竞争激烈，疫苗的需求对经济和联邦合同的效率也是如此。”

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，从附表延迟，工作缺勤和医疗保健费用造成生病，孤立或隔离的工人。18luck.cub

Justice Dept. Arguments

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.

司法律师说，正如美国最高法院最近得出结论，在裁定适用于某些卫生保健工作者的疫苗授权时，行政部门可以“对包括疫苗接种要求的Medicare和Medicaid [资金]的接收者施加参与条件，”法院应维护相同的疫苗接种要求，以便参加联邦签约。

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.

Government lawyers argued that requiring federal contractor workforce vaccination in response to a pandemic emergency “is the type of decision that Congress has entrusted the President to make.”

下级法院说，行政命令违反了“联邦制原则”，但司法部指出，联邦合同不涉及各州，因此行政命令不会引起联邦制的关注。

该命令“反映了总统的决定，这是他管理公共资金将合同条款强加给联邦政府开展业务的公司的权力的一部分。”

The lower court also found that compliance costs of following the order were “irreparable.”

But the Atlanta appeals court previously held that compliance costs could only be irreparable if economic conditions are so bleak that they would put an entity out of business. “Most plaintiffs are sovereign states or their agencies, none of which faces the threat of economic insolvency,” the government lawyers said.

Associated Builders and Contractors

法官律师说，尽管ABC通常指出了其成员公司的疫苗接种合规性费用，但记录中没有任何内容表明任何成员都将被迫倒闭。18luck.cub

The lower court, which found only two ABC member firms that had established injury from the mandate, erred by granting a nationwide federal injunction on that basis, the lawyers said.

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说，“没有系统的证据”，该任务将导致一些工人退出，或者可能在联邦承包商的雇员中发生。政府律师说，私人公司的经验是相反的，并指出一项Kaiser家庭基金会的研究发现“只有1％的成年人说他们离开了工作，因为雇主要求他们接种疫苗。”新利luck

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。危害禁令对这项基本的政府工作造成的损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

同时，案件观察家推测美国最高法院如何看待承包商的授权，如果要同意进行案件审查，遵循大法官ruling earlier this monthto halt the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration vaccine mandate for all employers of 100 or more.

"In some respect, the government may argue that it has wide authority to condition the receipt of appropriated funds through federal contracts, including a vaccine mandate. However, the courts have not been persuaded that the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act permits the government to impose such a sweeping vaccine mandate," says Shaun Kennedy, a partner at Washington, D.C., law firm Holland & Hart, who specializes in government contracts. "Other courts have commented that the federal contractor mandate raises other constitutional and legal considerations, such as conflicting with the Tenth Amendment," which governs states' rights.

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."

The legal challenges "present the administration with the opportunity to fine tune" order compliance, says Hall. ACEC, which has not been a party to lawsuits, "is trying to work with agencies to tailor [mandate] implementation," says Hall.

他说，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。

霍尔说：“成员想遵守规则。”：“给他们明确的规则遵循。”他承认自去年与白宫，OMB和联邦采购政策办公室的工作人员讨论以来，对承包商授权指导进行了“调整”。