As Townhall has covered since President Biden announced his administration's sweeping vaccine mandates for private employers, his administration had spent the summer dispelling rumors that the federal government would do exactly what it did on Thursday in mandating Wuhan coronavirus vaccines at the federal level for public and private sector companies alike.
CDC Director Robyn Walensky, who had been under fire for refusing to lift mask mandate guidance for vaccinated Americans, let slip in late July that the Biden administration was considering mandating vaccines nationwide.
In an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier, Walensky said federal vaccine mandates were "something that I think the administration is looking into" but that she had "nothing further to say on that except that we're looking into those policies," adding vaccine mandates "are individual local decisions."
COVID-19: CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky, tells Fox News in interview the CDC and Biden Administration are looking into a federal vaccine mandate for all citizens. #COVID19 #CDC #Vaccine pic.twitter.com/z3wveBQrzU
— Revolution Sports (@RevoSports2021) July 30, 2021
Her admission that the Biden administration was even considering a federal vaccine mandate raised concerns over the legality of such a requirement, causing Walensky to respond on Twitter.
"To clarify: There will be no nationwide mandate," Walensky said. "I was referring to mandates by private institutions and portions of the federal government. There will be no federal mandate."
.@BerkeleyJr To clarify: There will be no nationwide mandate. I was referring to mandates by private institutions and portions of the federal government. There will be no federal mandate.
— Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) July 30, 2021
Walensky also said previously that the CDC nor the Biden administration had the authority to mandate vaccines and that it was a decision for individual states to make.
CDC Director Walensky says they don’t have the authority to mandate vaccines. Asked if local jurisdictions should do so, she doesn’t answer directly, but says it's a state decision that could be more viable once vaccines are fully approved rather than emergency authorized.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 28, 2021
And yet, within two months, Biden announced a nationwide vaccine mandate from the federal government through a questionable use of OSHA's power over not just government but private employers.
Perhaps it took a few more weeks for the Biden administration to find its workaround justifying its use of force, or perhaps the administration wasn't ready to announce such a step yet. In any case, Walensky joins Press Secretary Jen Psaki and President Joe Biden himself in a hall of shame composed of liars who assured the American people they didn't have the authority or intention to do exactly what they did on Thursday.