Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration over the vaccine mandate for federal contractors.
Paxton wants a federal court to declare the vaccine mandate unlawful and to stop it from being enforced, the Hill reported Friday.
The mandate — expected to go in effect Dec. 8 — will require all federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with no option for testing.
The administration “does not have the ability to strip individuals of their choice to get a vaccine or not,” Paxton said in a statement. “If the President thinks his patience is wearing thin, he is clearly underestimating the lack of patience from Texans whose rights he is infringing.”
The Biden administration is “using subterfuge to accomplish what they cannot achieve directly — universal compliance with their vaccine mandates, regardless of individual preferences, healthcare needs, or religious beliefs,” Texas claims in the lawsuit.
Texas’ move follows similar suits filed by Republican governors in Florida and Georgia over the mandates. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis filed a lawsuit in a Tampa federal court on Thursday seeking a preliminary nationwide injunction.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) also filed a separate lawsuit challenging the mandate. Kemp is being joined by state leaders from Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia.