Phoenix, Arizona - Governor Doug Ducey responded to President Biden’s new COVID-19 mandates, calling his administration “dictatorial” and these latest maneuvers “another egregious big government overreach.”

President Biden's latest plan forces vaccines on as many as 100 million Americans - requiring private companies with more than 100 employees to require vaccines of their employees or face penalties. This action usurps the rights of employers and employees who are the backbone of our nation. It also overrules pro-freedom policies passed and signed by duly elected leaders and U.S. Supreme Court precedent holding that such mandates are unconstitutional. 

Read the Governor’s full statement below:

“Joe Biden has failed us on COVID. He ran for office on a promise to ‘shut down the virus.’ He has failed on this, much as he has failed on the border crisis and in Afghanistan. So now, President Biden’s plan is to shut down freedom.

“COVID-19 is a contagious disease, it is still with us and it will be for the foreseeable future. President Biden's solution is hammering down on private businesses and individual freedoms in an unprecedented and dangerous way. 

“Today marks another egregious big government overreach robbing Arizonans and all Americans of their fundamental rights to make their own decisions about their health and the health of their children.

“President Biden’s dictatorial approach is wrong, un-American and will do far more harm than good. How many workers will be displaced? How many kids kept out of classrooms? How many businesses fined?

“The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective tools to prevent the disease, but getting the vaccine is and should be a choice.

“These mandates are outrageous. They will never stand up in court. We must and will push back.”