Developments on Biden's Vax Mandate
On Wednesday, Jen Psaki confirms that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), an office under White House, received the draft from OSHA regarding the vaccine mandates.
According to the White House spokesperson, the draft of the mandate is now under review and should be available in the Federal Register once finalized under the OIRA process.
According to its website, OIRA is “United States Government’s central authority for the review of Executive Branch regulations, approval of Government information collections, establishment of Government statistical practices, and coordination of Federal privacy policy”
Let’s take a closer look into this.
A Closer Look
One of the mandates of OIRA, under its website, is to implement EO 12866 of September 30, 1993. Under the following sections under The Principles of Regulation, the OIRA is mandated to:
“(11) Each agency shall tailor its regulations to impose the least burden on society, including individuals, businesses of differing sizes, and other entities (including small communities and governmental entities), consistent with obtaining the regulatory objectives, taking into account, among other things, and to the extent practicable, the costs of cumulative regulations.
(12) Each agency shall draft its regulations to be simple and easy to understand, with the goal of minimizing the potential for uncertainty and litigation arising from such uncertainty.”
Chilling Precedent
Given the burden of vaccine mandates, it seems that the OIRA reviewing this mandate is counterintuitive. First, we have already huge companies like United Airlines firing hundreds of employees for refusing to vaccinate. This means that even before the mandate is even issued, the precedent already has a chilling effect. On the other hand, the OIRA also has its task towards ‘minimizing the potential for uncertainty and litigation’.
In short, the White House is in risk management and trying to make sure all legal loopholes are covered.
FDA Blocking FOI Request to Expedite
However, we can see that there is resistance from quarters in the scientific community already to take back the playing field on the offensive side. On September 16, a group called Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMPT)1 filed a lawsuit at the United States Court North District of Texas against the US FDA to release data for the basis on approving the Pfizer Covid-19 jab.
According to their filing, FDA denied the request to expedite information on the Pfizer jab given that PHMPT did not demonstrate “a compelling need that involves an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual” or “that there exists an urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity.”
Why is FDA withholding information on the basis of leading epidemiologists, ethicists, and scientists reasonably asking for transparency? This is the subject of the lawsuit of PHMPT against the FDA.
Freedom on Health Decisions
While the government and legal actors are in play, one has to reasonably ask how to equip oneself on preventing government overreach. For now, the best way is to keep track of the legal steps being taken by the government and try to understand how this affects American freedoms.
Reactions to #vaccinemandates
If Southwest is canceling flights because pilots and others are taking a stand against a #VaccineMandate, do you support them? I do 100 percent.
If Southwest is canceling flights because pilots and others are taking a stand against a #VaccineMandate, do you support them? I do 100 percent.
— Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) October 12, 2021
CDC Director Walensky says the vaccine *cannot* prevent transmission. So why are so many ill-informed people saying it can?
CDC Director Walensky says the vaccine *cannot* prevent transmission.
— Anabel V. (@Anabel_Villeroy) October 5, 2021
So why are so many ill-informed people saying it can? 🤡 #VaccinePassports #VaccineMandate pic.twitter.com/LjAOQDoiVj
Congrats to @MarkPaoletta, who is fighting for workers and against #VaccineMandates!
Congrats to @MarkPaoletta, who is fighting for workers and against #VaccineMandates! https://t.co/XzdyulH3MH
— Rachel Semmel (@rachelsemmel) October 13, 2021