Two Senate Democrats - Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana - joined 50 Republicans in voting to overturn President Biden's vaccine mandate for large businesses on Wednesday.
The 52-48 vote sends the proposed legislation to the Democratic-led House of Representatives, where the bill is not expected to be brought up for a vote, meaning that it has effectively been killed.
Biden's mandate ordered businesses with 100 workers or more to obtain proof of vaccination from their workers by January 4 or subject them to weekly testing and masking.
Two Senate Democrats - Joe Manchin (right) of West Virginia and Jon Tester (left) of Montana - joined 50 Republicans in voting to overturn President Biden's vaccine mandate for large businesses on Wednesday
It would have applied to around 84 million private sector workers, around 31 million of whom are estimated to be unvaccinated.
Wednesday's vote comes on the heels of a federal judge's decision on Tuesday to block the mandate on the basis that it 'exceeds government's authority.'
Manchin and Tester argued that the consequences of implementing the mandate would be largely felt on the country's already bruised economy.
The chamber's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, branded Biden's mandate as an 'illegal' and 'absurd' government effort to micromanage the lives of private citizens.
'President Biden's absurd private-sector vaccine mandate is a blatant overreach.' McConnell said. 'The United States of America is a free country. The federal government elites in Washington cannot micromanage citizens' personal choices without a legitimate basis in law and the Constitution.'
Biden's mandate ordered businesses with 100 workers or more to obtain proof of vaccination from their workers by January 4 or subject them to weekly testing and masking. Wednesday's vote comes on the heels of a federal judge's decision on Tuesday to block the mandate on the basis that it 'exceeds government's authority'
The 52-48 vote, which is unlikely to become law, sends the legislation to the Democratic-led House of Representatives, where the bill is not expected to be brought up for a vote
The initiative underscores the intense political opposition facing administration efforts to combat COVID-19 at a time when health officials are trying to contain the highly contagious Omicron variant.
'I have always supported a vaccine mandate for federal employees and the military because maintaining essential services and military readiness the federal government provides is a matter of national importance,' Manchin said in a statement following the vote.
'However, I do not support any government vaccine mandate for private businesses. It is not the place of the federal government to tell private business owners how to protect their employees from COVID-19 and operate their businesses,' he
