The court, which has a conservative majority of 6-3, delayed action on emergency requests in both cases that sought a decision right away. The workplace mandate is currently in effect across the country, while the healthcare worker mandate is being challenged in half of the country's 50 states.
The White House is confident in the legality of the two mandates, according to White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, and the Justice Department "will vigorously defend both at the Supreme Court."
The petitions reached the Supreme Court as the new, highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads, with public health officials predicting a "tidal wave" of cases in the United States. more info
An appeals court allowed the workplace mandate, which affects 80 million American workers, to go into effect on Friday, prompting businesses, states, and other groups opposing the policy to petition the Supreme Court to overturn it.
The other case involves whether the administration can require healthcare workers at facilities that treat federally funded Medicare and Medicaid patients to be immunized while the litigation is ongoing.
The Biden administration asked the court to allow the policy to be implemented in the 24 states where it had been blocked by lower courts. It is also halted in Texas in a separate case that is not before the Supreme Court.
President Joe Biden unveiled regulations in September to increase adult vaccination rates in order to combat the pandemic, which has killed over 800,000 Americans and weighed on the economy.
27 mostly Republican-led states, various individual businesses and business groups, and two religious entities, including the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, are among the challengers. The National Federation of Independent Business, a trade group that represents small businesses, is one of the business challengers.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati lifted a November injunction that had blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) workplace rule, which applies to businesses with at least 100 employees, last week.
The healthcare worker rule, which was also challenged by mostly Republican-led states, required more than 2 million unvaccinated healthcare workers to receive their first dose of vaccine by December 6.
Medicare and Medicaid are federal programs that provide healthcare to the elderly, disabled, and low-income people.