Judge blocks Biden's COVID-19 vaccination mandate for federal contractors in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee

• President Joe Biden issued a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for federal contractors.
• US District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove granted a request to halt Biden's mandate on Tuesday.

The Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccination requirement for federal contractors received another blow from US District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, who granted a request Tuesday to block the federal mandate in three additional states: Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.

"Once again, the court is asked to wrestle with important constitutional values implicated in the midst of a pandemic that lingers," Tatenhove wrote in his ruling, which was obtained by CNN. "But right now, the enforcement of the contract provisions in this case must be paused."

By issuing the mandate, Tatenhove determined that Biden exceeded his authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, even for a "good cause" like slowing the spread of COVID-19.

"While the statute grants to the president great discretion, it strains credulity that Congress intended the FPASA, a procurement statute, to be the basis for promulgating a public health measure such as mandatory vaccination," Tatenhove wrote in his ruling.

The decision is the latest in a string of rulings against the vaccination mandate.

On Monday, Judge Matthew Schelp of the Eastern District of Missouri issued a preliminary injunction for workers at Medicare- and Medicaid-certified medical facilities in 10 states. Another ruling from a US federal appeals court in early November froze Biden's mandate requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to get vaccinated or tested weekly.