President Trump has signed an Executive Order stopping federal funding for all schools and universities with COVID-19 vaccine mandates that require students to be vaccinated to attend classes in person.
The Order prohibits “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.”
As well as schools and universities, the order will apply to education-service agencies, state education agencies and local education agencies.
Newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy will be empowered to establish compliance guidelines for vaccination and ensure that entities that refuse to end mandates are stripped of federal funding.
During the election campaign, President Trump promised that he would bring an end to vaccine requirements at the federal level.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has now ended President Biden’s order that all green card applicants must prove they were vaccinated. He has also signed an Executive Order to reinstate servicemembers who were dismissed after refusing to be vaccinated.