Despite the rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the state, Gov. Bill Lee announced that there will be no new mask or vaccine mandates. WSMV reports that Lee says “government does not need to tell people how to live their lives with regard to their personal health.” New COVID-19 boosters are now available and will be covered by public and private insurance plans.

State Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, is suggesting an audit of how the state used federal relief aid it received for rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessean reports. The state received $383.4 million for rental assistance. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) in turn hired Horne LLP to process applications, determine applicant eligibility and assist landlords, but is not able to identify the amount of federal funds that it disbursed. During a meeting of the Fiscal Review Committee this week, Campbell also criticized the agency for returning funds back to the federal government while Tennessee families remained in need. "An audit might be a good idea here," she said.

The Tennessee Department of Health announced that Tennesseans will continue to have access to free COVID-19 vaccinations while supplies last even though the federal public health emergency officially ended Thursday. Vaccines will also be available through in-network insurance providers and Affordable Care Act plans. Private insurers and Medicare are now no longer required to provide free distribution of at-home COVID-19 tests. International travelers entering the United States are also no longer required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations to enter the country. Read more about the end of the federal requirement from the Tennessean.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans last week upheld a district court judge's ruling blocking enforcement of President Joe Biden's 2021 executive order, which required all federal employees to take a COVID-19 vaccine. The Associated Press reports that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation. The ruling from the full court reversed an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel that had upheld the vaccination requirement. Biden issued the order in September 2021. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown issued a nationwide injunction the following January.

A federal judge in Nashville has set a hearing for March 10 to consider competing claims in a lawsuit brought by former Tennessee vaccine chief Michelle Fiscus, who was fired from state government during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Tennessee Lookout, Fiscus is seeking a so-called “name clearing” hearing, which would require her former Department of Health bosses to attend and review the circumstances behind her firing. Lawyers for the department are asking the judge to bring the lawsuit to a close without holding the hearing. Fiscus was fired from her job in July 2021 after she circulated a memo outlining when healthcare providers are allowed to give vaccines to adolescents without parental permission. Following criticism by legislators, department officials released information criticizing Fiscus’ performance.

The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati today affirmed a lower court’s ban on a vaccine mandate for workers who contract with the federal government, the Associated Press reports. A federal judge in Louisville in November 2021 found the Biden Administration rule unconstitutional and blocked the mandate in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The mandate would have required workers contracting with the federal government to wear face masks and be vaccinated for COVID-19.

President Joe Biden was blocked from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for government-contractor workers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Indiana after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that he overstepped his authority. The government had sought to vacate a lower court’s order blocking the mandate but the judge authoring the majority opinion said, “To allow this mandate to remain in place would be to ratify an ‘enormous and transformative expansion in’ the President’s power under the Procurement Act.” A similar case that would impact workers in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee is still pending before the Sixth Circuit. Bloomberg Law has more on the pending litigation.

Dr. Michelle Fiscus is seeking a hearing to contest charges that led to her firing as medical director of Tennessee's Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program last year, the Times Free Press reports. Detractors had argued that during the COVID-19 pandemic she was allowing some children to get vaccinated without parental consent. 

A federal jury has found that Sullivan County teacher Jeremy McLaughlin was suspended for reasons other than his expletive-laced social media posts, rejecting McLaughlin’s claims he was targeted for the posts, Tennessee Lookout reports. McLaughlin was suspended for three days without pay in September 2020 after parents complained about posts made while off-duty. Before the trial, U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker ruled McLaughlin’s social media posts were protected speech under the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding the rights of a coach who prayed on the field after football games. That ruling put the burden on the school to prove McLaughlin was suspended for other reasons. The school argued it took the action because McLaughlin was encouraging people outside the school system to vote in what was supposed to be a survey of district teachers. The jury agreed.

Five current or former IRS employees have been charged with defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program. According to court documents, the defendants submitted fraudulent loan applications to both programs that collectively sought more than $1 million and used the funds for cars, luxury goods and personal travel. The defendants each face wire fraud charges, with one defendant facing both wire fraud and money laundering charges. Read the release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District.