Yes, it's a virtue signal, and it's a sign that he's considering running for president. There's a tendency in the last several years for politicians (especially governors and AGs) to inject themselves into national controversies by fighting with the Administration on some big issue when they are from opposing parties. It's all about boosting their own brand and prominence. You saw Xavier Bacerra do it with Trump. You saw Abbott do it with Obama when he was AG, and he's doing it again with Biden.
As for the legitimacy of Abbott's EO, I think it's on weak ground. It's not because businesses have an inherent right to demand its employees be vaccinated. Employment at Will is the general rule, but we make exceptions to it all the time both at the federal and state level. But by EO? No. That's something a wannabe dictator (or a virtue signaling politician who doesn't care about the limits on his power) attempts. True exceptions are created by legislatures passing statutes or by state courts making common law exceptions since the general rule is a common law doctrine. That's what is normal and legitimate. The Texas Legislature hasn't adopted such a statute, and the Texas Supreme Court has not recognized such an exception.
You can't complain about the legitimacy of Biden's EO on the vaccine mandate or eviction moratorium (and I complain about both but not about his order on federal employees) but also think Abbott has the legitimate authority to pull an exception to the at-will doctrine out of his ***. He doesn't.
Kinda sorta for big companies when they're talking about some employees but definitely not across the board for them, and I don't think all or even most medium or small companies want to go that far. I'm sure most prefer their employees get vaccinated for the same reason they often want their employees to get the flu shot. It'll cut down on absenteeism. However, do most want to make it an absolute condition of employment for all employees? Remember what that means. It means they're willing to ****-can any employee (not just the grunts who shovel **** for a living and can be replaced by the end of the day) over this regardless of that employee's performance or how much money or success that employee generates. Suppose the CEO of Ford Motor Company for whatever reason doesn't want to get vaccinated. Is he really going to get canned? Hard to imagine the company caring enough to do that. Hell, suppose a Ford dealership's top salesman doesn't want to get vaccinated. Does the dealership really want to fire him and lose his talents over that? Maybe, but I wouldn't be too sure. If Tom Brady doesn't want to get vaccinated, are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers really going to cut him? It's laughable to even consider.
Last edited: Oct 15, 2021