Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says new federal vaccine mandates are ‘wrong approach’

Posted: Sep 10, 2021 / 05:55 AM EDT

Updated: Sep 10, 2021 / 12:47 PM EDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is speaking out against new federal vaccination mandates President Joe Biden issued Thursday.

During his address to the nation, Biden announced that all employers with 100 or more employees must either mandate vaccines or test weekly. Biden also said businesses with more than 100 employees will be required to provide paid time off for the time it takes for workers to get vaccinated or recover from post-vaccination side effects.

In a series of tweets, Lee criticized Biden’s address, calling it “cynical and divisive” and saying it pitted the vaccinated against the unvaccinated. Lee also called the mandates a “power grab” and suggested they are unconstitutional.

For a fight that requires working together, a lot of cynical and divisive edicts came out of the White House today pitting the vaccinated against the unvaccinated, businesses against employees, and the federal government against states.
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) September 9, 2021

In a later tweet, Lee said that vaccines are “the best tool we have to combat the pandemic” but “heavy-handed” mandates are the wrong approach.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has also spoke n out against the mandates, saying that the President has “no authority” to mandate that private businesses require vaccinations.

The President has no authority to require that Americans inject themselves because of their employment at a private business. The vaccine itself is life-saving, but this unconstitutional move is terrifying. This is still America, and we still believe in freedom from tyrants.
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) September 9, 2021

The Biden administration will use a new rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to enact the mandates. According to the administration, the rule will carry penalties of $14,000 per violation.