The Ohio policy group first to file for an emergency stay of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandates said a court ruling this week could drag out court cases surrounding the now-on-hold mandates.

Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s denial of a petition for a hearing in front of the full court leaves businesses challenging the mandates in limbo.

“The denial of The Buckeye Institute’s petition for an initial en banc hearing in Phillips vs. OSHA is disappointing,” Alt said. “An en banc hearing would have ensured a faster resolution to these cases which would have given our clients – who will suffer substantial and irreparable economic harm if the OSHA vaccine mandate is enforced – greater certainty.”

The Buckeye Institute motioned for a hearing in front of the full court in mid-November for its case, Phillips vs. U.S. Department of Labor, along with the other related cases nationwide that have been consolidated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

“The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate is an unprecedented overreach of government power that certainly meets the standard of ‘exceptional public importance’ and further conflicts with holdings of the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit as required to necessitate an en banc review,” Alt said when the motion was filed. “An en banc review will ensure that the full court is able to address the important administrative law and constitutional questions raised by our plaintiffs who would suffer substantial and irreparable harm as outlined in The Buckeye Institute’s case.”

The Buckeye Institute also recently filed a motion demanding the White House produce all communications and records related to the initiation and development of Biden’s vaccination mandate.

The motion claims the White House imposed the mandate through OHSA to circumvent limits on federal power. It asserts the mandate had little to do with workplace safety but rather to increase individual vaccination rates.

OSHA temporarily suspended enforcement of the private sector COVID-19 vaccination mandate after the Fifth Circuit U.S. Courts of Appeals in New Orleans twice ordered a halt to implementation, citing “grave” constitutional issues.

States, businesses and other groups filed 34 lawsuits against the Biden administration’s mandate that private sector businesses with 100 or more employees require workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or face weekly testing. The policy also would impose nearly $14,000 in fines per employee for businesses caught letting their workers skirt the directive.

The mandate was scheduled to take effect Jan. 4 before the Fifth Circuit ordered the stay.

This article was originally posted on Court denies Ohio group’s motion for full hearing on federal vaccination mandate