Biden’s new executive order exempts 644,000 USPS workers from the vaccine mandates that affect 100 million federal and private employees

Earlier today, Biden announced the sweeping COVID-19 vaccine requirements on Thursday, that affect about 100 million Americans. The new measures include a vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors and a requirement that large companies with more than 100 employees must mandate vaccines or regular testing for employees. Biden said companies that fail to comply could face fines of $14,000 per violation.

“The health and safety of the federal workforce, and the health and safety of members of the public with whom they interact, are foundational to the efficiency of the civil service,” the executive order, released Thursday evening, reads. “I have determined that ensuring the health and safety of the federal workforce and the efficiency of the civil service requires immediate action to protect the federal workforce and individuals interacting with the federal workforce.”

Biden also said that the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule requiring all employers with at least 100 employees to make sure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require unvaccinated workers to get a negative test at least once a week. As part of the new measures, OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard to introduce the vaccine requirement with fines of $14,000 per violation.

“My job as president is to protect all Americans,” Mr. Biden said Thursday. “So tonight, I’m announcing that the Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees that together employ over 80 million workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week.”

While Biden framed the new mandates as one covering all federal workers, contractors, and all companies with more than 100 staff, what Biden failed to mention in his announcement is that one labor union is granted a very “unscientific” exemption.

“My job as president is to protect all Americans,” Mr. Biden said Thursday. “So tonight, I’m announcing that the Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees that together employ over 80 million workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week.”

According to updates from the Washington Post citing a “White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss not-yet-public portions of the president’s plan,” U.S. Postal Service workers were not included in Biden’s executive order requiring all federal employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The White House source told the Washington Post that the reason for the USPS exemption is that the “USPS has a separate statutory scheme and is traditionally independent of federal personnel actions like this” even though postal workers would be strongly encouraged to comply with the mandate. What’s puzzling is that the Washington Post also said this “explainer” is in conflict with reality: after all, the Postal Service is an independent agency of the executive branch, and it is required to be specifically included in executive orders that apply to working conditions for federal employees. Below is a screenshot of the updates.