In a surprise move, the US Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments on January 7 on whether the government will be able to enforce two vaccine mandates while those mandates are being challenged in court.

Mandate # 1 is a rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requiring employers with more than 100 employees to require their employees to be fully vaccinated or be tested weekly. The 5th Circuit put the rule on hold last month. Then there were several cases pending in several federal Circuit courts, so these were all consolidated and sent to the 6th Circuit. Surprisingly, the 6th Circuit dissolved the 5th Circuit's stay, so that rule is still in effect.

Mandate # 2 is a rule from the Department of Health and Human Services requiring facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs to require their workers to be vaccinated (with medical and religious exemptions). Lower courts have blocked that rule in about one-half of the states.