HELENA – A U.S. District Court Judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction today against President Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors, which was set to take effect next month. Three of the federal government’s vaccine mandates are now enjoined in Montana.

The order was issued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia in a case filed by several states.

In response, Attorney General Knudsen issued the following statement:

“I’ve heard from federal contractors and their employees across the state who were worried they’d be forced to get a vaccine they don’t want. Just because a company happens to contract with the federal government does not mean its workers lose their rights,” Attorney General Austin Knudsen said. “The vaccine mandates are a gross abuse of power – and now three of them are blocked in Montana. I’ll continue to fight President Biden’s unlawful mandates and protect Montanans’ rights.”

The judge enjoined the federal government “from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or territory of the United States of America.”

Attorney General Knudsen continues to fight the federal contractor mandate in a parallel lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Click here to read the full ruling.

Last week, a federal judge granted Attorney General Knudsen’s request for preliminary injunction against the COVID-19 CMS vaccine mandate. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has also been ordered by federal court not to enforce its vaccine mandate for private employers.