52 members of the Senate voted in favor of repealing the mandate on Wednesday while 48 voted against. Those in favor included all 50 Republican senators along with two Democrats, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Montana Senator Jon Tester.
The rest of the Democrats in the Senate voted to maintain Biden’s mandate and they were joined by the only two independent senators, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.
While the vote showed significant opposition to Biden’s mandate – which threatens fines for companies with 100 employees or more that fail to make sure all their staff are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 – it is unlikely to result in a reversal of the policy any time soon.
To pass Congress, a repeal would also have to receive a majority in the House of Representatives and escape being vetoed by Biden, which would be incredibly unlikely.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – a Democrat – attacked the vote, accusing Republicans of being anti-vaxxers and comparing them to people who believed “the sun revolved around the Earth” and that the “Earth was flat.”
The Republicans defended their stance, however, warning that such vaccine requirements are unconstitutional and threaten job security even further during an economy-decimating pandemic.
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