Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) joined a press conference with nearly three dozen of his Republican colleagues in response to President Biden’s overreaching vaccine mandate through OSHA. Yesterday OSHA released their new rule for employers with 100 or more employees.

“We’re not talking about the validity of the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Rep. Estes. “In fact, a lot of Kansans tell me they are vaccinated, but they just don’t believe the government should trample on the rights of others who choose not to be vaccinated. Others tell me they’ve been at the same company for many decades and are nearing retirement, and some who have continued to work faithfully even through the pandemic, yet are being forced to resign or retire because they’ve made a personal health care decision. It’s absolutely absurd and unconstitutional for President Biden and OSHA to feel that they are empowered to make those decisions for all of America.”

Watch Rep. Estes' remarks at a press conference.

Additionally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule for health care workers. This rule reflects President Biden’s vaccine mandate and requires more than 17 million health care workers employed by facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 4, 2022. Rep. Estes has already noted existing workforce shortages in the health care industry, and this CMS rule will only exacerbate the problem.

Rep. Estes recently introduced legislation to protect religious liberty exemptions and cosponsored legislation to stop vaccine mandates, as well as signing a letter seeking answers from President Biden. He also launched a Share Your Story webpage at estes.house.gov/stories. Rep. Estes will share the collected stories with the Biden administration, congressional colleagues and fellow Kansans as he works to prevent these mandates from taking effect.