Press Release

Alaska Continues Effort to Block Contractor Vaccine Mandate

February 16, 2022

(Anchorage, AK) – The State of Alaska continues to challenge the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates on multiple fronts, and today the state joined an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit seeking an immediate end to the federal government’s unlawful vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor joined attorneys general from 17 other states in filing the brief in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The brief argues the federal contractor mandate improperly intrudes on powers that should be left to the states. Also, President Biden’s executive order represents an exercise of regulatory power not delegated by Congress.

“Since Biden’s Administration began its intrusion into state sovereignty and personal liberties with federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Alaska has been working to protect the medical freedom of Alaska National Guard members, federally-funded health care workers, workers in large private businesses, Head Start employees, and, today, we’re revisiting the fight for federal contractors,” said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. “The decision-making should occur between the individual and that person’s physician/health care provider. We stand behind that.”

Biden’s federal contractor vaccine mandate was issued on Sept. 9, 2021, and it was set to take effect in December before a federal judge in Georgia blocked nationwide implementation. The amicus brief filed today is a response to the federal government’s appeal of that judge’s order.

Another lawsuit filed by Alaska and nine other states is pending in U.S. District Court in Missouri.

“With the stroke of a pen last September, the president took away the state’s public health authority under the Constitution and at the same time caused great uncertainty for private employers who hold federal contracts,” Attorney General Taylor said. “We will take every legal step possible to block that executive order and allow individual Alaskans and business owners to make the health decisions that are best for them.”

The federal contractor vaccine mandate applies to vendors entering into a new contract with the U.S. government or seeking to have an existing contract extended or renewed. There are hundreds of federal contractors in the state, including the University of Alaska. Questions remain as to how the mandate would affect vendors with existing, long-term contracts and whether a business’s refusal to implement the mandate would cause it to be “blackballed” from consideration for future contracts.

In addition to raising questions of constitutionality, the amicus brief filed today said the contractor mandate fails to demonstrate it improves the economy and efficiency of contractors. While the Biden administration argues the mandate would reduce absenteeism for federal contractors, that would not justify such a “sweeping, invasive and unprecedented public health requirement imposed unilaterally by President Biden.”

In addition to Attorney General Taylor, attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas joined in filing the amicus brief (180KB PDF).

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.