Vaccine mandate: White House chief of staff 'confident' Biden administration's mandate for private businesses will be upheld

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White House chief of staff Ron Klain said he was confident the courts will uphold the validity of the Biden administration's new vaccine rules that apply to private businesses with 100 or more employees, certain health care workers and federal contractors, after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the requirements on Saturday.

A medical technician fills a syringe from a vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in Bates Memorial Baptist Church on February 12 in Louisville, Kentucky.© Jon Cherry/Getty Images A medical technician fills a syringe from a vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in Bates Memorial Baptist Church on February 12 in Louisville, Kentucky.
"I'm quite confident that when this finally gets fully adjudicated, not just a temporary order, the validity of this requirement will be upheld," Klain told NBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press." "It's common sense ... If OSHA can tell people to wear a hard hat on the job, to be careful around chemicals, it can put in place these simple measures to keep our workers safe."

In the brief order, a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said that the petitioners in the case -- Republican-led states and private businesses -- "give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate," giving the federal government until 5 p.m., Monday to respond.

On Sunday, Klain predicted that the case will be "well litigated," before January 4 when the Biden administration announced the rule will take effect.

"I'm not sure it really has much practical effect in the short run," Klain said, pointing to the numerous cases already brought against vaccine requirements.

"These vaccine requirements have been litigated up and down the courts all over the country. State requirements for example, one in Maine. And every single court before this one ruled that they were valid," he added.