President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Friday to end COVID-19 vaccine mandates in schools across the country.
According to the White House, the move fulfills another of Trump’s campaign promises and solidifies the president as “a staunch advocate for parental rights, ensuring families have the primary role in shaping their children’s educational journey, free from undue bureaucratic mandates.”
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The order will bar federal funds “from being used to support or subsidize an educational service agency, state education agency, local education agency, elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher education that requires students to have received a COVID-19 vaccination to attend in-person education programs.”
Trump’s order also directs the secretaries of education and health and human services to provide the White House with a comprehensive plan “to end coercive COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including a report on noncompliant entities and a process for preventing federal funds from supporting educational entities that impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates,” according to the White House.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s new HHS secretary and one of the loudest voices in the anti-vaccine movement, was confirmed and sworn in on Thursday afternoon, the same day the Senate grilled Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Education, Linda McMahon, at a confirmation hearing. The president has mused that he wants McMahon to put herself out of a job, referencing his stated goal of shrinking the Education Department, if not closing it entirely.
COVID-19 derailed Trump’s first term in office despite his actions to develop vaccines quickly through Operation Warp Speed, and the president frequently criticized former President Joe Biden’s maintenance of school and workplace COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
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“These mandates pressure students into making COVID-19 vaccine decisions based on government coercion, rather than on their own informed choices,” the White House said in a statement. “With COVID-19 vaccine mandates threatening educational opportunities for students, parents are being forced into a difficult position: comply with a controversial mandate or risk their child’s educational future.”
Just one week into office, Trump signed a separate executive order reinstating military members who were discharged for refusing to be vaccinated against coronavirus.
