The Senate on Wednesday voted to overturn President Joe Biden’s business vaccine mandate but the legislation is not expected to advance, CBS News reports.
The Senate by a vote of 52-48 backed the bill to rescind his order, though it essentially amounts to a congressional rebuke.
West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin and Montana Democrat Jon Tester joined all 50 Republicans to vote for the bill.
The bill would still have to pass the House, where Democrats have little appetite to take up Senate Republicans’ proposal, and it would need to be signed by Biden in order to actually overturn the requirement. Biden has vowed to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
Manchin said that he prefers incentives over mandates in promoting the vaccine.
Dems defend:
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy defended the vaccine requirement ahead of the vote.
"We understand the power of our words in this place," he said. "Republicans know that when they come down to the floor and attack the vaccine mandate day after day after day, they know they are giving fuel to the fire of the anti-vaccine campaign."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the Republican bill an “anti-science, anti-vaccine proposal."
"My friends, America, we are in the middle of a public health crisis," Schumer said. "Everyone sees the damage it causes to themselves, their friends, their families, their communities. And the way to solve this is to be driven by science."
Mandate on ice:
Biden issued an order requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to require workers to be vaccinated or tested regularly.
The order prompted several lawsuits in mostly Republican-led states seeking to overturn the rule.
A federal appeals court last month halted the requirement and consolidated all of the federal challenges into a single case.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to rule on the case in the coming weeks.
