From vaccine mandate to abortion to uprising probe, key court struggles could shape Biden’s legacy
The cases involving the January 6 investigation, abortion, and mandatory Covid-19 vaccination may have little in common on the subject. But together, they show how a conservative judiciary can stymie Biden’s initiatives and create massive messes that the Biden administration will have few tools to clean up.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives will debate the release of certain Trump files to congressional investigators investigating the Capitol riots. On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban is constitutional, in a case that could lead to the end of Roe v. Wade, money nearly half a century of protection for abortion rights nationwide.
In one such case, the Biden administration told the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that there would be “a combination of harms of the highest order” if the court did not reinstate the administrative mandate blocked by the court. Another court of appeals ordered vaccines or routine testing. for employees of large companies.
“Simply put, delaying the Standard is likely to result in many deaths every day, in addition to the large number of hospitalizations, severe health effects and enormous costs.” written government.
Rubber takes to the streets in legal battle over Biden vaccine mandates
Other courts around the country are weighing lawsuits that attack the Department of Health and Human Services’ request that certain health care workers be vaccinated, as well as challenges to regulation on vaccines for federal contract workers.
“This is not about freedom or personal choice,” Biden said in a speech in September to promote his administration’s moves to mandate the use of vaccines. “It’s about protecting yourself and those around you – the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love.”
Biden’s efforts to support the January 6 Congressional investigation hit an inflection point in court
The White House has also made it clear that the “unique and unusual” circumstances surrounding the January 6 Capitol riots warrant a remarkable degree of transparency, as congressional investigators examine the activities of the Capitol. the inner workings of law enforcement under Trump.
The DC Circuit panel of judges, who will hear arguments Tuesday in the National Archives case, are all Democratic appointees, though it is expected that At some point the Supreme Court will be asked to participate.
“President Biden’s reasonable conclusion that the interests of the Executive Branch and the broader Nation would be countered by asserting executive privilege over Presidential records relevant to the events of control herein ,” the Justice Department wrote in a summary ahead of Tuesday’s arguments. “The former President’s attempt to dismiss that decision politically motivated ignores the importance of the events of January 6 and the overwhelming need for a national reckoning to ensure that no Something like that happens again.”
Confronting a Supreme Court case with generations of stakes for abortion rights
The long-running Supreme Court battle over Roe v. Wade will unfold this week with the potential to have consequences that span decades into the future. A decision that gutted Roe would leave the Biden administration with little options for increasing access to abortion after a new wave of restrictions.
“Roe’s central hold remains clear and viable, and it has only been further reinforced by intervening in legal and factual developments,” the Justice Department said in a summary. “And the past three decades mean that every American woman of reproductive age has grown up in a context of rights guaranteed by Roe and Casey, a right that has become even more deeply embedded in the social fabric of society. Association of the Nation.”
According to Mary Ziegler, Florida State University College of Law professor and author of “Abortion and the Law in America: A Legal History, Roe v. Wade to the Present.”
Even if the court doesn’t completely overturn Roe, judges could undermine its key holdings in a way that could lead to a series of extreme restrictions and put the judiciary in orbit. to reverse Roe in the not too distant future.
“It will only show that the legacy of conservative presidents and the courts – and the fact that the progressives, even if they have won a lot of the popular vote, have not done well in shaping the court – that could cause real setbacks, says Ziegler.
