General Electric became the latest company to suspend its COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirement after the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden's mandate.
The company has previously encouraged its 174,000 employees to get the jab, according to a spokesperson, and will continue to do so.
GE had announced in October an intention to begin a vaccination mandate in an attempt to comply with the federal regulations.
President Biden urged businesses to bring in vaccine mandates on their own and pushed states to 'do the right thing' after the Supreme Court voted 6-3 Thursday to block his sweeping rules on private companies in a crushing blow to his pandemic response.
The high court did however allow a vaccine mandate for employees at health care facilities receiving federal dollars to go into effect. Twenty-seven states had petitioned the Supreme Court to issue a stay on the rule while it is battled out in the judicial system.
The conservative justices claim Biden's rule was over-broad and would have presented a 'significant encroachment' on the 'everyday lives -- and health -- of' the 84 million American workers that would have been impacted.
The Supreme Court has blocked President Joe Biden 's vaccine-or-test mandate for private companies with 100 or more employees, in a 6-3 decision handed down on Thursday that dealt a crushing blow to the White House's pandemic response
It's the latest setback in a bad day for Joe Biden (pictured telling reporters that Democrats' current plan for voting rights is dead after moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema objected to scuttling the filibuster)
GE headquarters on Necco Street in Boston. The company's employees will no longer be held to a federal or company-wide vaccine mandate
The justices passed Biden's mandate for healthcare workers 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh siding with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer.
Biden called the ruling on private businesses 'disappointing' in a statement on Thursday afternoon but added that the decision to keep the healthcare mandate 'will save lives.'
'This emergency standard allowed employers to require vaccinations or to permit workers to refuse to be vaccinated, so long as they were tested once a week and wore a mask at work: a very modest burden,' the president claimed.
'As a result of the Court's decision, it is now up to States and individual employers to determine whether to make their workplaces as safe as possible for employees, and whether their businesses will be safe for consumers during this pandemic by requiring employees to take the simple and effective step of getting vaccinated.'
Thirteen states including Texas, Florida and Arizona have bans or limits on imposing vaccine mandates while many companies including Amtrak, Macy's and Starbucks have already announced measures for their employees.
GE CEO Lawrence Culp Jr.'s company will continue to encourage all of its employees to take the shot
Democrat-led states such as New York with their own mandates won't be impacted and can keep their rules in place, while states without any rules in place can decide for themselves.
Republicans celebrated the decision by calling it a 'victory for freedom' after claiming it was an overreach for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - the agency usually tasked with investigating asbestos and workplace accidents.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has, despite the loss, vowed to use the OSHA's existing authority to hold businesses accountable for protecting workers.
'We urge all employers to require workers to get vaccinated or tested weekly to most effectively fight this deadly virus in the workplace,' Walsh said in a statement Thursday. 'Employers are responsible for the safety of their workers on the job.'
Biden's rival Donald Trump praised the decision and mocked Biden's campaign-era promise to 'shut down' the virus.
'The Supreme Court has spoken, confirming what we all knew: Biden's disastrous mandates are unconstitutional,' Trump said in a statement through his Save America PAC.
'Biden promised to shut down the virus, not the economy but he has failed miserably on both—and mandates would have further destroyed the economy. We are proud of the Supreme Court for not backing down. No mandates!'
Biden rolled out sweeping measures in September aimed at getting more Americans vaccinated, after the rate of inoculations slumped as the Delta variant brought a new wave of infections over the summer. If implemented, they would have affected a combined one-third of the US workforce.
