The Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s rule that all employers must require their employees to either receive the safe, free, and effective Covid-19 vaccine or undergo regular testing. The majority ruled Covid-19 is not an “occupational hazard,” and is thus outside the jurisdiction the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), because Covid-19 can spread elsewhere and, “That kind of universal risk is no different from the day-to-day dangers that all face from crime, air pollution, or any number of communicable diseases.”

The ruling raised concerns that conservatives on the Court are seeking to limit OSHA’s authority to regulate harmful air pollution in the workplace. “This is a really silly fallacy to find in a SCOTUS opinion,” Luppe Luppen (aka @nycsouthpaw) wrote on Twitter. “Does the Court’s express reference to ‘air pollution’ as a ‘universal risk’ in that passage mean that OSHA’s extensive indoor air quality regulations are about to be overruled?” (Rolling Stone, BBC; Commentary: The New Republic)