Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21a240_d18e.pdf
Page Number: 8.0

8 

BIDEN v. MISSOURI 

Per Curiam 

safety” regulations that Congress has authorized the Secre-
tary to impose. 

We  accordingly  conclude  that  the  Secretary  did  not  ex-
ceed  his  statutory  authority  in  requiring  that,  in  order  to 
remain eligible for Medicare and Medicaid dollars, the fa-
cilities covered by the interim rule must ensure that their 
employees be vaccinated against COVID–19. 

B 
We  also  disagree  with  respondents’  remaining  conten-
tions in support of the injunctions entered below.  First, the 
interim rule is not arbitrary and capricious.  Given the rule-
making record, it cannot be maintained that the Secretary 
failed to “examine the relevant data and articulate a satis-
factory explanation for” his decisions to (1) impose the vac-
cine mandate instead of a testing mandate; (2) require vac-
cination of employees with “natural immunity” from prior 
COVID–19  illness;  and  (3)  depart  from  the  agency’s  prior
approach of merely encouraging vaccination.  Motor Vehicle 
Mfrs. Assn. of United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto-
mobile  Ins.  Co.,  463  U. S.  29,  43  (1983);  see  86  Fed.  Reg.
61583, 61559–61561, 61614.  Nor is it the case that the Sec-
retary “entirely failed to consider” that the rule might cause 
staffing  shortages,  including  in  rural  areas.    State  Farm, 
463  U. S.,  at  43;  see  86  Fed.  Reg.  61566,  61569,  61607–
61609.  As to the additional flaws the District Courts found 
in the Secretary’s analysis, particularly concerning the na-
ture of the data relied upon, the role of courts in reviewing
arbitrary  and  capricious  challenges  is  to  “simply  ensur[e] 
that the agency has acted within a zone of reasonableness.” 
FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project, 592 U. S. ___, ___ (2021) 
(slip op., at 12).

Other  statutory  objections  to  the  rule  fare  no  better. 
First, JUSTICE ALITO takes issue with the Secretary’s find-
ing of good cause to delay notice and comment.  But the Sec-
retary’s finding that accelerated promulgation of the rule in