Legal wranglings were expected when President Joe Biden announced a federal mandate for vaccinating certain employees against COVID-19.
Kansas has joined six other states in suing the Biden administration with hopes of blocking the mandate — especially the part where contractors doing business with the federal government must have their employees fully vaccinated. Schmidt says the risk of these contractors losing future federal contracts has “coerced” several major Kansas employers, including defense contractors and research universities, to threaten action against the workers including termination.
The lawsuit asks for the federal contractor mandate to be declared illegal. It follows a letter signed by 20 state attorneys general, including Schmidt, with broader legal and practical concerns about the mandate as a whole earlier in the month.
Besides serving as attorney general, Schmidt, a Republican, is considered the frontrunner for the party’s nomination for governor next year. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, has already announced plans to run for re-election.
