Decision to come soon on vaccine mandate for federal contractors

U.S. District Judge Dee Drell heard arguments and testimony from two witnesses on Monday on the question of whether President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate can be applied to federal contractors, but he issued no immediate ruling.

Drell said he would take the matter under advisement and issue a decision "as expeditiously as possible."

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit, which also includes Indiana and Mississippi, that alleges the mandate goes too far and has a negative effect on the economy.

More: Mayor Bill de Blasio to impose COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private sector employees

The first witness was Megan Breaux, the operational review director at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Breaux sought a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate, which was denied.

She faces termination after the Jan. 18 deadline for federal contractors to be fully vaccinated.

Breaux testified that, after her exemption was denied, she sought an explanation. She said she was told that all employees who cannot work fully remote cannot be accommodated.

She testified that she works "99.5%" remote.

The other witness was University of Louisiana System President James Henderson, who testified about contractors used by the campuses throughout the system. He testified that the system has no objections to the requirement for federal contractors because they are "absolutely essential" to its core mission.

When asked by Drell, Solicitor General Liz Murrell said she sought a national preliminary injunction instead of one that covered the three states listed as plaintiffs.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Parties await judge's decision on Biden's vaccine mandate for federal contractors