A federal judge in Georgia has blocked the Biden administration’s nationwide mandate for federal contractors’ employees to be vaccinated amid a slew of challenges from states that say the president overstepped his authority in requiring the COVID-19 shots. The mandate, which was to have taken effect Jan. 4, applies to roughly a quarter of the U.S. workforce and would have affected companies that do business with the federal government, including Lockheed Martin Corp., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.‘s Google and General Motors Co. The case is similar to an emergency regulation from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that orders private-sector companies with 100 employees or more to require vaccinations of their employees. The Sixth Circuit Court is poised to consider the consolidated challenges to the OSHA rule.

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