Biden administration asks appeals court to reinstate vaccine mandate

• At least 34 lawsuits, brought by employers and Republican-controlled states, have since been moved to the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court for consolidation, per the New York Times.

What they're saying: The Biden administration defended the measure in its motion Tuesday, writing that it would "save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations."

"The Fifth Circuit's stay should be lifted immediately. The court's principal rationale was that OSHA allegedly lacked statutory authority to address the grave danger of COVID-19 in the workplace. ... That rationale has no basis in the statutory text. Congress charged OSHA with addressing grave dangers in the workplace, without any carve-out for viruses or dangers that also happen to exist outside the workplace."

Details: Under the rule, companies with 100 or more workers must mandate vaccination or regular testing, with fines for violating the measure starting at an estimated $13,653 per violation.