Top Oklahoma officials blast Biden's imperial COVID edict

Yesterday, President Joe Biden went on national television to announce a massive new edict decreeing mask and vaccine mandates for federal employees and contractors, healthcare workers, educators, and businesses with over 100 employees, doubling mask fines for interstate transportation, among other things. You can read the plan here from the White House.

This is what happens when you allow the executive branch to become imperial. Over the past few decades, both the Congressional and the Judicial branches have allowed the Executive to rule by fiat, executive order, and bureaucratic regulation. This should be struck down immediately as totally unconstitutional.

Following are reactions from Governor Kevin Stitt, Attorney General John O'Connor, Congressman Kevin Hern, State House Speaker Charles McCall, and U.S. Senator James Lankford:

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT BLASTS PRESIDENT BIDEN COVID MANDATES

OKLAHOMA CITY (September 9, 2021)— Governor Kevin Stitt released the following statement in response to President Biden’s new COVID mandates:

“It is not the government’s role to dictate to private businesses what to do. Once again President Biden is demonstrating his complete disregard for individual freedoms and states’ rights. As long as I am governor, there will be no government vaccine mandates in Oklahoma. My administration will continue to defend Oklahoma values and fight back against the Biden administration’s federal overreach.”

Attorney General O'Connor Comments on Biden's Federal Vaccine Overreach

State preparing litigation

OKLAHOMA CITY - Attorney General John O'Connor today released the following statement after President Joe Biden announced new, imposing vaccine rules on health care workers, private companies and federal workers.

"We respect the right of Oklahoma businesses and individuals to make healthcare decisions for themselves and their families. My office will vigorously oppose any attempt by the federal government to mandate vaccines. We are preparing litigation to stand up for our rights and defend the rule of law against the overreach of the federal government." - Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor

Hern criticizes Biden order to require vaccines for small businesses 

WASHINGTON, DC – Representative Kevin Hern (OK-01) released the following statement after Biden announced his plan for the Department of Labor to institute a vaccine mandate on private companies employing more than 100 people.

“The federal government has once again overstepped into the lives and livelihoods of American citizens,” said Rep. Hern. “Private companies, especially small businesses, are already suffocating under the oppressive restrictions put in place at the start of the public health emergency last year. My colleagues and I have warned of the slow march to socialism for years, and we were called liars for it. Turns out it’s not so much a slow march as it is a sprint. More restrictions, more mandates, more socialist policies are never the answer.”

Speaker McCall opposes Biden mandate proposals, applauds new law allowing Oklahoma to challenge federal overreach

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, issued the following statement opposing overreaching federal mandates announced by President Joe Biden:

“The Oklahoma Legislature acted aggressively this session to stop unconstitutional federal overreach like President Biden proposed today. We saw this coming and are already prepared to block it in Oklahoma. This type of unilateral overreach is precisely why House Bill 1236 and the additional litigation funds for the attorney general were such big priorities this session. I applaud the attorney general for utilizing the tools the Legislature provided to defend Oklahoma’s rights as a state. President Biden is about to see the U.S. Constitution still matters in Oklahoma. This isn't the only unconstitutional Biden administration action Oklahoma needs to challenge. Our country is a republic of states, not a monarchy, and the president does not have the constitutional authority to issue these type of edicts.”

HB 1236 established an intrabranch process for legal challenges of federal rules, executive orders or Congressional actions harmful to the rights of Oklahomans and the state of Oklahoma. It passed the Legislature and was signed into law in May, with an immediate effective date. The bill was principally authored by McCall and Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, and coauthored by nearly all 82 members of the House Republican Caucus.

Lankford Opposes Biden’s Vaccine Mandate For Federal Employees

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement today after President Biden signed an Executive Order requiring Executive Branch employees and contractors to get a COVID-19 vaccine:

“My family and I chose to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and I am grateful for it. Every Oklahoman and American should have that same choice and option. Federal employees and contractors, members of our military, health care workers, and everyone else in our nation should be able to choose whether to get vaccinated. Period. The Biden proposal ignores the natural immunity millions of Americans have because they have recovered from COVID and the millions of other Americans that do not want to be forced to take a vaccine for a multitude of personal, religious, and medical reasons.”