The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 pandemic-related vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses while allowing his administration to enforce its separate vaccine requirement for healthcare facilities. The court acted after hearing arguments last Friday in the legal fight over temporary mandates issued in November by two federal agencies.

The court was divided in both cases, with the six conservative justices ruling in the majority and three liberal justices dissenting in blocking the broader workplace ruling. The vote was 5-4 to allow the healthcare worker rule, with two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joining the liberals in the majority.

The federal workplace safety agency issued a rule affecting businesses with at least 100 workers requiring vaccines or weekly COVID-19 tests. The policy applied to more than 80 million employees. Challengers led by the state of Ohio and a business group asked the justices to block the OSHA rule after a lower court lifted an injunction against it.

The other mandate required vaccination for an estimated 10.3 million workers at about 76,000 healthcare facilities including hospitals and nursing homes that accept money from the Medicare and Medicaid government health insurance programs for elderly, disabled and low-income Americans.

The court’s unsigned ruling regarding larger businesses said that the OSHA rule was not an ordinary use of federal power.

“Permitting OSHA to regulate the hazards of daily life – simply because most Americans have jobs and face those same risks while on the clock – would significantly expand OSHA’s regulatory authority without clear congressional authorization,” the court said.

In dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote on behalf of the liberal justices that the decision “stymies the federal government’s ability to counter the unparalleled threat that COVID-19 poses to our nation’s workers.”

The White House has said the two mandates will save lives and strengthen the U.S. economy by increasing the number of vaccinated Americans by millions. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that the pandemic poses a particularly acute workplace danger, with employees getting sick and dying every day because of their exposure to the coronavirus on the job, with outbreaks across all industries.

The challengers argued that the two federal agencies overstepped their authority in issuing the mandates without specific authorization by Congress.