The White House pushed back Monday on Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly after the vulnerable Democrat broke with President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing requirement for private employers.
As Republican attorneys generals launch a wave of legal challenges to the federal rule, Kelly emerged last week as the most prominent Democratic critic of the policy. It requires companies of more than 100 employees to ensure full vaccination of their workers or require regular testing for COVID-19.
Kelly said last week that she “doesn’t believe this directive is the correct, or the most effective, solution for Kansas,” and promised to take unspecified action against the federal rule. On the same day, her likely 2022 Republican opponent, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, joined a lawsuit against it.
