Missouri and Louisiana AGs emphasize importance of vaccine case: 'one of the most consequential' in US history

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry both said Friday's Supreme Court case on vaccine mandates could have substantial and long-lasting consequences for the relationship between states and the federal government.

"I mean, because we're talking about how much power does an administrative agency have over people's lives or a medical procedure without any constitutional or statutory authority to support it? We were arguing that it's never been expressly granted and people should be able to make these decisions themselves. Individuals, families should be able to make these important decisions about whether or not they want to get a vaccine or not … The federal government should never be forcing people to do that. There's no authority for it."

The Supreme Court, on Friday, heard oral arguments over whether the federal government can condition Medicaid funding on whether health care workers receive the coronavirus vaccine. Both Missouri and Louisiana sued the administration.