Joe Biden filed an emergency lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to immediately reinstate his vaccine mandate for private employers with 100 or more workers after the rule faced a series of legal challenges.

Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans issued a preliminary pause on the order, which prevented the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from moving forward in implementing the employer rules.

The Justice Department argues in its filing, according to The Wall Street Journal, that the rules reflect 'OSHA's judgment that these measures are necessary to mitigate Covid-19 transmission in the workplace, and the grievous harms the virus inflicts on workers.'

Several Republican-led states, employers, unions and other organizations filed lawsuits against the administration's order.

Biden's court motion was filed by the DOJ with the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which a federal judicial panel on multidistrict litigation designated last week as the court that will decide legal challenges related to Biden's vaccine-or-test rule. All cases related to the order were consolidated to that court. 

Lawsuits consolidated argue, in part, that OSHA is engaged in unlawful government overreach into the private sector. Others, however, claim that the mandate doesn't go far enough in protecting workers from coronavirus. 

The new rule requires that workers get vaccinated by January 4, 2022 or else be tested weekly – in most cases on their one dime – and wear masks in the workplace. 

If violated, employers could face up to $13,653 per violation or $136,532 in fines if they were repeat offenders or found to be intentionally balking the rule.