WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., today joined 48 other GOP senators in filing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) challenge to stop President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring private businesses to require COVID-19 vaccines for their employees.

The Senators earlier this month announced their intent to challenge the private sector vaccine mandate through the CRA, the official process for Congress to eliminate an Executive Branch rule.

 “President Biden’s unconstitutional federal vaccine mandates are an extreme abuse of power that puts Americans’ livelihoods in the crosshairs,” Wicker said. “In addition, the mandate threatens to wreck the economy. A large number of American workers will simply leave the workforce rather than be told what to do by the federal government. This legislation would overturn the President’s mandate on private employers and protect millions of hardworking Americans from an intrusion on their personal liberty.”

“The United States is not China or some other tyrannical country. President Biden exceeded his authority in his rush to force the vaccines on the American people,” Hyde-Smith said. “I believe the COVID-19 vaccines save lives, but I also trust the American people to make the best medical decisions for themselves and their families at this point in the pandemic.”

The Biden administration rule mandates vaccines for all employees who work at private businesses with 100 or more workers.  The rule outlined a $13,653 fine for each offense, with willful violations resulting in a $136,532 penalty.

The CRA was filed on the basis that this federal mandate is a highly inappropriate invasion of what should be a personal medical decision for every American, and that it could worsen labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.

U.S. Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., filed the CRA, which is cosponsored by all 50 Republican U.S. Senators.