Blog: What to look for in Friday’s vaccine mandate oral arguments

On Friday, Jan. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court will hold nearly unprecedented oral arguments on whether to allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ and Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine mandates to go into effect while appeals are heard in the courts of appeals. “It is nearly unprecedented for the Court to hear argument at the stay — rather than the merits — stage, as they are doing here, and typically there would have been more briefing on issues of such significance,” writes Sean Marotta, a partner at Hogan Lovells and AHA outside counsel, in a new blog post. “And because these particular mandates are time-limited — by statute, the OSHA mandate can last only six months and the CMS mandate will likely last for a similar period — the Supreme Court’s stay decision may effectively decide whether these mandates go into effect at all, depending on how quickly the Court issues its decisions.” 

View today’s full blog post breaking down the legal issues confronting the Court and what to look for when the Justices hear the oral arguments. On Friday, watch for more analysis from Marotta on AHA’s blog page as well as a new podcast.